Fragile Oasishttp://fragileoasis.org/Latest Blog PostsenSun, 02 Apr 2017 11:46:23 +0000The Ultimate Outsider: An Astronaut's Guidehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/ygl4KWZsuwY/<center><h3>We are at a Pivotal Point in History</h3></center>
<blockquote>Imagine that you are on the International Space Station able to look down at our beautiful planet turning slowly below you. </blockquote>
<a href="http://fragileoasis.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/945_5939-sm.jpg"><img src="http://fragileoasis.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/945_5939-sm.jpg" alt="" title="Atlantic, Shuttle" width="700" height="465" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2897" /></a>
<blockquote>Looking at the planet, you see dancing neon curtains of green and red auroras that seem so close you could reach out and touch them. You see the glowing, iridescent, emerald waters of the Caribbean, the bright tan and crimson of Libya cast against the deep blues of the Mediterranean, the snow-capped mountain ranges of the Himalayan plateau that seem to jut out from the limits of the atmosphere, and the incomprehensible vastness of the African continent.
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<blockquote>It’s been said that in order to fully understand a problem, you need to get outside of that problem. It is for this reason that political outsiders often appear to be a very attractive option for voters. But to really get outside of the problems facing our world, we must zoom out to the point at which all factors impacting our decisions can be framed. </blockquote>
<blockquote>I believe that if you had the opportunity to see our planet from the vantage point of orbit, you might look at the world from a slightly different perspective. I believe that you would be struck by the sobering contradiction between the beauty of our planet and the unfortunate realities of life for a significant number of its inhabitants.</blockquote>
<blockquote>From space, I believe it would be obvious to you that life on our planet is not always as beautiful as our Earth appears. But I also believe seeing the planet from space would fill you with hope. Seeing the unlimited potential of what we can accomplish when we work together, as demonstrated by the International Space Station itself, would extend your optimism. Your definition of the word “home” would rapidly expand to encompass the planet in its entirety, and for the first time, you might fully understand what it means to be one human family. </blockquote>
<blockquote>I only believe that these things would happen to you — I don’t know that for a fact. The only thing I can say for certain is that they happened to me.
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<H3>Architecting a Future for All </H3>
<blockquote>From the vantage point of the Orbital Perspective, it is clear that we are at a pivotal point in history where the choices we make will catalyze profound changes to the course of civilization. But we can make a course correction to the trajectory of our planetary society. We have an opportunity to nudge our civilization toward a future where all people can live in harmony with each other and with the planet, where all people can live in peace and dignity, and where the needs of all are met. </blockquote>
<blockquote>A future where individuals, organizations and nations set aside differences and work together for the benefit all of humanity. Where everyone understands that their own personal and national interests must be pursued in the context of an overarching planetary society. </blockquote>
<blockquote>A future where all people have the tools they need to understand the long-term economic and environmental effect of their actions on society and the overall planetary ecosystem. A future where leaders and decision-makers across all disciplines use the best data available to ensure that the long-term impacts of their decisions keep us on a positive trajectory. </blockquote>
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A future where the requirements for the growth of our economy are met without causing any harm to people, the planet, or to any of the species that we share our planet with. </blockquote>
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A future where openness and transparency fuel tremendous economic growth and enable profound collaboration between scientists, politicians, and nations. </blockquote>
<blockquote>A future where education instills in every student the awe and wonder of our beautiful world and where every student is afforded the opportunity to engage with this wonder in a way that contributes to the well-being of our world. </blockquote>
<h3>How to Apply the Orbital Perspective to Decision Making </h3>
<blockquote>In order to begin to steer civilization toward this possible future, we need to change the way in which we make decisions and build policies, especially in a time of global political upheaval. To help ensure that the trajectory that decisions put us on is the best possible, I offer the following five tests:
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<H3>From the Orbital Perspective, Decisions are Made:
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<blockquote>1. Using the most credentialed, peer-reviewed scientific data available
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<blockquote>Decisions that are based on the most accurate data possible enable the most accurate predictions of the decisions’ effect on the trajectory of our planetary society </blockquote>
<blockquote>2. In the context of our entire world, considering the big-picture implications
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<blockquote>In addition to the immediate area of concern, does the decision cause harm elsewhere? At a minimum, an Orbital Perspective solution should be neutral outside the area of concern — ideally it would be beneficial and restorative. Decisions can not be solely driven by party lines or other parochial or tribal factors. If maintaining party loyalty at the expense of the greater good is the driving force of a decision, the course of action is fundamentally misguided and will be destructive in the long-run. </blockquote>
<blockquote>3. Considering the long-term (multi-generational) effects to all</blockquote>
<blockquote>If you project out the effects of a course of action to your grandchildren’s generation, are the effects positive and restorative or are they detrimental? If our grandchildren will be harmed by a decision, then we’re sacrificing our progeny for our own present benefit. </blockquote>
<blockquote>4. With open and transparent inputs and courses of action
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<blockquote>Does the solution permit everyone to see “how the sausage is being made?” Would the course of action survive a spotlight? If a decision requires secrecy to be successful, because it violates one of the other four Orbital Perspective factors, it will fail us in the long-term. </blockquote>
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5. With the priorities, Planet-Society-Economy as opposed to Economy-Society-Planet? If short-term financial factors are the driving force of a decision, the course of action will not be sustainable. The reality of the world we live in is that the economy is the wholly owned subsidiary of the biosphere. Any course of action that treats the environment as the wholly owned subsidiary of the economy is not in accordance with reality and will be destructive in the long-term. </blockquote>
<blockquote>In order to ensure we’re steering Spaceship Earth on the best course possible, the answers to all five tests need to be positive.
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Imagine what the world could look like in the next 20 or 50 years if decisions were made from the Orbital Perspective. How many seemingly intractable problems would be solved? </h3>
<h3>With unlimited possibilities, what kind of future would you want to build? </h3>
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<blockquote>Famed Astronomer Carl Sagan has said, “For the moment the Earth is where we make our stand”. We are all in this together, and the only way we will be able to overcome the challenges facing our world is by working together. An effort to use the Orbital Perspective to guide the trajectory of our planet is forming and gaining momentum. The first step of this journey is the launch of a <strong><a href=" https://www.coursera.org/learn/orbitalperspective" title="Introduction to the Orbital Perspective MOOC">Massive Open, Online Course (MOOC) called Introduction to the Orbital Perspective</a></strong>. I invite you to join us on this journey. <a href=" https://www.coursera.org/learn/orbitalperspective">Please enroll in the free course</a> which is a jump-off point to other initiatives to help design a more positive, visionary, and restorative future.</blockquote><h3><a href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/orbitalperspective">JOIN HERE!</a></h3>
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/ygl4KWZsuwY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Sun, 02 Apr 2017 11:46:23 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2017/4/an-astronauts-guide-to-becoming-the-ultimate-outsider-2/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2017/4/an-astronauts-guide-to-becoming-the-ultimate-outsider-2/Why I Left NASAhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/__CnWaZ1RFg/<h4>It's been awhile since I've seen any sign of life. As I write this, I am somewhere between Comfort, TX and Fort Stockton on an open stretch of I-10 (I'm not at the wheel)</h4>
<h4>In some respects, I'm en route to a new chapter in my life, but for the most part I'm embarking on a continuation of the call to action I felt after my first journey to space: a call to help spread a unique perspective of our home, this place we call Earth.</h4>
<h4>A little over two years ago, I left my dream job as an astronaut, a career I worked my entire life to achieve. I left NASA for one overarching reason, to be able to share a unique perspective of our planet that I believe can have profound, positive effects on the trajectory of our global society and our world. I left NASA so I can share that perspective full time.</h4>
<iframe width="675" height="380" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q_b1l-7YW_o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<h4>Everything I have done since leaving NASA was with the motive of communicating what I have come to call the Orbital Perspective. I've written the book, "<a href="http://www.orbitalperspective.com" title="The Orbital Perspective" target="_blank">The Orbital Perspective</a>," and I am working on on the full-length feature documentary, "<a href="http://orbitalmovie.com/" title="Orbital" target="_blank">Orbital</a>." I am also contributing efforts to launch various startups (including the first civilian spaceflight training academy), and teaching the on-line course "Introduction to the Orbital Perspective" at Drexel University. What all these endeavors have in common, and seek to achieve, is to communicate the transformative power of acquiring a big picture and long-term perspective of our planet. My hope has been to figuratively transport those involved to a higher vantage point where all the pieces of the puzzle come into view.</h4>
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/why-i-left-nasa/ISS028E31546.jpg" alt="The Mediterranean and northern Africa" border="0"></a>
<em>The Mediterranean and northern Africa / Credit: Ron Garan/NASA</em>
<h4>Now for the first time since leaving NASA I will no longer be confined to just figuratively transporting people to a transformative vantage point. Thanks to my new position as Chief Pilot at <a href="http://worldviewexperience.com/" title="Worldview Experience" target="_blank">World View Enterprises</a>, I will be able to literally transport people to the edge of space where I believe many will experience a profound shift in their World View. For the first time since leaving NASA I will be able to make use of my years of experience as a test pilot and fighter pilot to help develop the test program to do something that has never been done before: fly a crewed capsule under a steerable parachute from the edge of space and land gently back at a predetermined point on the Earth.</h4>
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/why-i-left-nasa/HS_Capsule-In-Space.jpg" alt="World View Parafoil" border="0">
<em>Credit: World View</em>
<h4>Once our test program is complete, we will begin flying others to the edge of space. In the comfort of a shirtsleeve environment with massive windows to observe our planet, World View voyagers will enjoy a five-hour transformative experience. <em>I truly believe that the more people who are able to experience our home planet from that vantage point, the better off all of us here on the surface will be. </em> In addition to the customers who will pave the way and jumpstart this high-altitude industry -- just as those flying with the early barnstormers paved the way for the airline industry -- we plan on partnering with humanitarian, environmental, and educational organizations to accelerate the transformative effects of the program.</h4>
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/why-i-left-nasa/iss027e012223.jpg" alt="South America at Sunset" border="0"></a>
<em>South America at Sunset / Credit: Ron Garan/NASA</em>
<h4>In addition to bringing people to the edge of space for a transformative experience, I'm also excited about the payloads and experiments we will bring to the upper atmosphere and space environment. There are large gaps in humanity's knowledge of the upper atmosphere that limit our ability to model climate and weather patterns and trends. World View's plan for an unprecedented frequency of flights will enable a comprehensive study of our planet's upper atmosphere. </h4>
<h4>The program also has profound implications for communications, internet service, energy production and a myriad of other applications normally associated with the significantly more expensive satellite industry. I am particularly looking forward to working with organizations that are striving to provide internet access to remote and impoverished communities around the world. This is a passion of mine because I believe we need to bring the 5 billion creative and problem- solving minds currently without internet access into the global conversation. Through this, I believe we will find solutions we've never dreamed of - come from places we've never heard of.</h4>
<h4>I am excited about the implications for disaster response. One of the most critical things that can be lost in a serious storm or natural disaster is communications. Worldview Balloon communication platforms can be launched in response to (or in anticipation of) a natural disaster to provide communications capabilities to first responders and those affected - saving lives in the process</h4>
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/why-i-left-nasa/263E2528.jpg" alt="Hurricane Irene at peak intensity" border="0">
<em>Hurricane Irene at its peak Credit: Ron Garan/NASA</em>
<h4>I am delighted to join a team that embraces the same entrepreneurial spirit that launched the aviation industry and understands that true innovation is not just doing something that already exists better, but doing something completely new that revolutionizes or creates industries.</h4>
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/why-i-left-nasa/iss028e005527-sm.jpg" alt="Mark Kelly and Ron Garan" border="0">
<em>Mark Kelly, World View Director of Flight Crew Operations, and Ron Garan, Chief Pilot, in the International Space Station Cupola during Space Shuttle Endeavour's final mission. Credit: NASA</em>
<h4>2016 will be an exciting year for <a href="http://worldviewexperience.com" title="Worldview Experience" target="_blank">World View</a> and the commercial spaceflight industry. I look forward to our upcoming flight tests and, in particular, our first crewed flight. </h4>
<h4><em>What I most look forward to is people experiencing a new perspective of our planet for the first time and, more importantly, observe what they do with that new perspective and how they change the world for the better.</em></h4>
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/why-i-left-nasa/260A0724.jpg" alt="Sunset" border="0">
<em>Credit: Ron Garan/NASA</em><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/__CnWaZ1RFg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Tue, 23 Feb 2016 11:26:38 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2016/2/why-i-left-nasa/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2016/2/why-i-left-nasa/Borders From Spacehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/lrnGWRVPEoU/I have always said, “you can’t see any borders from space.” Apparently I was wrong.
On the evening of August 17, 2011, I “flew” to the Cupola, the windowed observatory of the International Space Station, to shoot some photographs for a <a href="http://fragileoasis.org/blog/2011/8/sneak-peek-from-space/">time-lapse photography project</a> I have been working on for Fragile Oasis.
Before beginning the sequence, I took some practice shots to verify camera settings. As I was about to delete them, something caught my eye. In one of the pictures, a very obvious illuminated line snaked across a large landmass for hundreds of miles.
Initially, I wrote it off as a strange exposure from moonlight reflecting on a river. But, I was intrigued and did some investigating, only to learn this was not a natural reflection at all. Rather, it is a human-made border between India and Pakistan to control passage between the two countries.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragileoasis/6122652875/in/photostream"><img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/090711-Borders-From-Space/Borders-From-Space.jpg"></a><br>
<em>This picture depicts the illuminated human made border between India and Pakistan, seen from the north from onboard the International Space Station on August 17, 2011. To the left New Delhi, and the cities of Jaipur and Jodpur. At the right edge: Karachi in Pakistan. The most striking feature is something that is frequently thought not to be visible from space - a border.</em>
Realizing what this picture depicted had a big impact on me. When viewed from space, Earth almost always looks beautiful and peaceful. However, this picture is an example of human-made changes to the landscape in response to a threat, clearly visible from space. This was a big surprise to me.
Since the beginning of human spaceflight fifty years ago, astronauts have reflected on how peaceful, beautiful, and fragile the Earth looks from space. These reflections are not clichés that astronauts say because it feels good. <em>It is truly moving to look at the Earth from space.</em>
The point is not that we can look down at the Earth and see a human-made border between India and Pakistan. The point is that we can look down at that same area and feel empathy for the struggles that all people face. <em>We can look down and realize that we are all riding through the Universe together on this spaceship we call Earth, that we are all interconnected, that we are all in this together, that we are all family.</em>
When we look down at the Earth, we are faced with a sobering contradiction. On one hand, we can clearly see the indescribable beauty of the planet we have been given. On the other hand -- the unfortunate reality of life on our beautiful planet for a significant portion of its inhabitants.
It saddens me and compels me to action when I realize that we have the resources and technology to overcome almost all of the challenges facing our planet, yet nearly 2 billion people do not have access to clean water, countless go to bed hungry every night, and many die from preventable and curable diseases.
I believe that we live in a world where the possibilities are limited only by our imagination and our will to act. It is within our power to eliminate the suffering and poverty that exist on our planet.
The answer is quite simple - <em><strong>just do something</strong></em>. The challenges of the world are really about how each of us individually responds to them. In other words, to what extent does humanity, on a person-to-person basis, commit to making a positive difference, no matter how small, or how big?
The vision for Fragile Oasis is to be a vehicle to effect real change. We want to provide a means for people and organizations to collaborate and develop synergy toward overcoming our planet’s challenges. We want to encourage people to make a difference, and we want to help organizations that are striving to make the world a better place reach their goals.
In short, the goal of Fragile Oasis is to help reduce that sobering contradiction that we see when we look at the Earth. We want to help those who are striving to improve life on Earth so that it is not only visibly beautiful, but life is beautiful for all.
(Originally posted 7 September 2011)<div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/lrnGWRVPEoU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Mon, 17 Aug 2015 01:50:14 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2015/8/borders-from-space/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2015/8/borders-from-space/A Poem for Saturday: Halfway to Plutohttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/aCc-Zm1o_is/<h4>Don Pettit
Node 2, Deck 5
ISS, LEO</h4>
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/032412-Don-Pettit-Poem-For-Saturday/ISS030_ISS030-E-136640.jpg">
<h4>I’m halfway to Pluto and Earth doesn’t know
The trials of travel in space as we go</h4>
<h4>With thrust to our backs while we speed on our way
The blue dot of Earth becomes fainter each day</h4>
<h4>When earthly horizons slip from your view
The color of loneliness changes its hue</h4>
<h4>And a radio call to our mission control
Takes nearly a day to just say hello</h4>
<h4>Yet our boss back on Earth abstract from our flight
Has no understanding of our minds in this plight</h4>
<h4>The Siren’s of Space singing songs for our souls
Try to tempt us to ruin on the reef of black holes</h4>
<h4>The singing of songs in space is a dream
For better or worse, you can’t hear a scream</h4>
<h4>Over eyes with wax patches, we resist Siren’s call
Thus avoiding the reef and escaping the fall</h4>
<h4>Our families back home make do while we’re gone
With or without us their life does go on</h4>
<h4>For the future of Earth and the human race
The final frontier we seek will be space</h4>
<h4>Our minds thus expand into places unknown
I’m halfway to Pluto but never alone</h4>
<em>originally posted 24 March 2012, reposted 9 July 2015, five days before NASA's New Horizon spacecraft makes its closest approach to Pluto</em><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/aCc-Zm1o_is" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 09 Jul 2015 07:38:50 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2015/7/a-poem-for-saturday-halfway-to-pluto/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2015/7/a-poem-for-saturday-halfway-to-pluto/Join the Orbital Perspective Launch Crewhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/FGLn8SPKdhM/I am really excited to report that we are fast approaching the official release of <em>The Orbital Perspective – Lessons in Seeing the Big Picture from a Journey of 71 Million Miles</em>, the book I wanted to write since returning to Earth from my first space mission in 2008.
Launching on Space Shuttle Discovery fulfilled a lifelong dream. It also marked the start of another quest - a quest that has led me to reject the status quo on our planet, and to work toward reducing the sobering contradiction we see when we look at our planet from space. It is a quest to nudge us along a path that makes life on Earth as beautiful for its inhabitants as our planet looks from space.
I returned from that mission with a compelling need to share the profound sense of hope that was seared into my awareness from the experience. I call this awareness <a href="http://hope.li/KeyIsWe" target="_blank">the orbital perspective</a>.
This awareness comes with a responsibility to highlight the need for effective global collaboration - the same kind of collaboration that built and sustains the International Space Station where I lived and worked for nearly six months during my second space mission. My goal in writing this book is to spark change - the simple, exponential and powerful <em>change collaboration can and does produce</em>.
I invite you to help me ignite this change <a href="http://hope.li/OPlaunch" target="_blank">by applying to become a member of the Orbital Perspective Launch Crew.</a> Please help share this message of HOPE with the world. #TheKeyIsWe
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/FGLn8SPKdhM" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Sat, 10 Jan 2015 18:02:55 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2015/1/join-the-orbital-perspective-launch-crew/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2015/1/join-the-orbital-perspective-launch-crew/Pilgrims Progresshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/_bgKCPD76Mk/<p>On September 6, 1620, a ship with her passengers and crew set sail from Plymouth Harbor in England on a 3,000-mile voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to the "new world," planning to drop anchor where eleven years earlier the explorer Henry Hudson sailed in what is now New York Harbor, at the mouth of the river that bears his name (left-bottom). </p>
<p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/fragileoasis/15889427835/"><img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/112714/ISS030E144267.jpg" alt="Long Island to Provincetown photographed by a human living and working on the International Space Station" width="675" height="449" border="0"></a></p>
<p>Sixty-six days later, on November 21, buffeted by ocean winds and with winter fast approaching, the ship known as the Mayflower instead dropped anchor at the sight of Provincetown, the hooked sheltering harbor on the eastern edge of Cape Cod. </p>
<p>This voyage is remembered with Thanksgiving in the United States - rooted in the harvest of the following autumn - and made possible because of the help of the native population. A little less than 400 years later, a ship with her crew peacefully orbit Earth, more than likely unimaginable to explorers, natives and new settlers of the early 17th century, yet made possible by cooperation among nations and people in the 20th and 21st – pilgrims progress. </p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/_bgKCPD76Mk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 27 Nov 2014 08:10:45 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2014/11/pilgrims-progress/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2014/11/pilgrims-progress/Bangladesh on Seven Summitshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/a-KD7xwopdo/<blockquote>It has been a little more than two years since I felt called to embark on this journey - to walk to the highest point of every continent - in an effort to put my nation of Bangladesh and her women in a more positive light in the eyes of the world.</blockquote>
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/Wasfia-Nazreen/ISS030-E-161318.JPG" alt="Bangladesh in southern Asia from the orbital perspective of astronauts living and working on the International Space Station">
<em>Bangladesh in southern Asia from the orbital perspective of astronauts living and working on the International Space Station. Bangladesh became an independent nation in 1971. Image credit: NASA</em>
<blockquote>When the average person out in the world talks about “Bangladesh” – they seldom remember the genocide our people experienced. Despite all that was destroyed, the astounding leap of progress that happened to that paralyzed nation, especially the contribution that was and is continuously brought forth by women, is mostly ignored. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BangladeshOnSevenSummits" target="_blank">Bangladesh on Seven Summits</a> is a tribute to those women and men, who, through sheer resolve, overcame so many struggles for the birth of our nation.</blockquote>
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/Wasfia-Nazreen/Da-Kusang-Sherpa .jpg" alt="Wasfia Nazreen on Mt. Everest">
<em>Da Kusang Sherpa offering puja (prayer ritual) to <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=1155" target="_blank">Chomolungma</a> (Tibetan name of Everest, implying Goddess Mother of the Universe) at Everest base camp before Wasfia’s journey to the top of the world. </em>
<blockquote>Like the love I received from all over the world in the process of this mission to climb the seven highest mountains on each of Earth's seven continents, I had to also overcome many obstacles; mostly physical, mental, financial and logistical nightmares. Unfortunately, the list also includes a fair share of insults, misunderstandings, discriminations, harassment, and even death threats following my <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w74KT_M68Uw&list=PL3TAHBWwJemRXk91Hj9qw5LBWPAILqnwr&feature=share&index=1" target="_blank">TEDxDhaka talk</a>. </blockquote>
<blockquote>Amongst other things, I had addressed at the talk was the divine feminine that lies within all of us, making me realize that "conquering" a mountain is never an option. To conquer something means to defeat it. I have trouble claiming that over such sacred spaces on Earth. Mother Nature's mercy made these unions possible. It is she who is allowing us to tread upon her by not throwing us off with an avalanche or jet stream, so how can we so gallantly proclaim to have "conquered" her? It is truly in her mercy that we are able to manifest such an act. So if anything it is she who safekeeps us. She who births us. We can only surrender.</blockquote>
<blockquote><em>"The human woman gives birth just as the earth gives birth to the plants...so woman magic and earth magic are the same. They are related. And the personification of the energy that gives birth to forms and nourishes forms is properly female."</em> - <a href="http://www.jcf.org/new/index.php?categoryid=11" target="_blank">Joseph Campbell</a>
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/Wasfia-Nazreen/Wasfia-Nazreen-View-of-Everest.JPG" alt="Wasfia Nazreen on Mt. Everest">
<em>The highest peak of the massive Himalaya range, Mt. Everest is also the highest peak on our planet. Wasfia Nazreen photographed its summit from the south side of the mountain.</em>
<blockquote>On the summit of Everest, the overriding feeling was that of gratitude, which literally made me feel I was connected to every single human being out there, though my heart in reality crawled all alone. I saw my entire life flash over me, and felt my peoples tiptoeing through my dreams. The only thing I could hear in my hypoxic state was my own blood rush and the sound of breath against my oxygen mask- when I was using it.</blockquote>
<blockquote>It was like hearing my own heartbeats and feeling thousands of others where I was, alive, in my prayers and me, in theirs. Aspiring for a better world. Sitting on the top, I felt tinier than a bug leeching on the expansive stretch of these Himalayan gods & goddesses. And an intense amount of respect and love flowed through me for the courage and dedication my ancestors have gifted me. </blockquote>
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/Wasfia-Nazreen/ISS008-E-6150.jpg" alt= "Mt. Everest">
<em>Mt. Everest in the Himalayas photographed from the International Space Station. The highest point on Earth, Everest's summit is 29,029 ft/8,848 meters above sea level. Image Credit: NASA</em>
<blockquote>I am of the generation that came into existence at the cost of, above all, systemic rape and torture of 300,000 women and girls during a nine months long independence war, soon after which they were forgotten by the world as well as my own society, where rape is seen as a source of shame. I felt the intensities of all the turmoil we have felt in the past, and are yet to feel over the ambivalent distance. One beautiful spinning world birthing us all, and what a waste we spend our short times out here fighting away. </blockquote>
<blockquote>Just like the journey up the Everest gives one infinite reasons to give up innumerable times, we can find unlimited reasons to give up on our home, this spaceship we share called Earth, and all her divineness. These curses, threats and the like, only make the rising feminine force stronger, where she no longer can be ignored, silenced or ostracized.</blockquote>
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/Wasfia-Nazreen/Wasfia-Nazreen-On-Everest.jpg" alt="Wasfia Nazreen on Mt. Everest">
<em>Wasfia, who reached the summit earlier, shows off her campaign logo to a few Army men from her neighbor country of India. Image credit: Ngima Girmen Sherpa</em>
<blockquote>At the end of it all, it is neither about the height nor about the medals. It is about experiencing that strength, and to understand how sacred we each are in our courage. To defend our love against fear and doubt is to truly LIVE. </blockquote><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/a-KD7xwopdo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 12 Feb 2014 12:17:22 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2014/2/bangladesh-on-seven-summits/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2014/2/bangladesh-on-seven-summits/Innovation is Risky Businesshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/-BlX4Omtfbc/I hear the word innovation constantly. The word is used in advertising, business plans, and countless seminars and conferences. Although there are cases of misuse and overuse for sure, I believe the reason why we hear the word innovation so much is because what is needed at this moment in history is, in fact, innovation. That is, innovation defined as coming up with better solutions – better solutions that come from doing something different rather than doing the same thing better.
Today technology is advancing at an exponential rate. If we look back at the unprecedented, incredible, increase in the capability of technology over the past 5 years and project that technological advancement to the next 5 years the advancements are mind boggling. As mind boggling as they are, they will prove to be a vast underestimate. We tend to think linearly (throughout all of history – up to a couple of decades ago this worked well) We can no longer project technological advancements out linearly because the rate of acceleration of technological advancement is itself accelerating rapidly.
In developing a strategy to use our rapidly advancing technology to produce innovation that will address our most critical challenges we need to step outside of our comfort zones, step outside of the way we’ve always done things and take some risk.
I want to share with you a story that has shaped every decision I have made concerning risk over the last 25+ years.
This is a picture of me in my first operational F-16 squadron in Germany.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/Ron-Garan-Risky-Business/Ron-Garan-USAF-F16.jpg">
I was a very stereotypical young fighter pilot. A little cocky and I tended to think of myself as seemingly indestructible. A few months after this picture was taken on Sept 13th 1988, I was taking off in an F-16 at Shaw AFB in SC. Up until this point I had thousands of takeoffs and landings and nothing had ever gone wrong …until that day.
On that day as I was rolling down the runway in my single seat, single engine F-16 -- as I got a few feet in the air and raised the landing gear -- I heard a pop followed by a loud explosion that knocked my feet off the rudder pedals and head back into my seat. As a single engine pilot we are trained to be acutely aware of our engine parameters. The engine appeared to still be running. At this point, I attempted to make a climbing turn with the goal of hopefully getting to a point where, if the engine failed, I could dead stick the jet in for a landing. As soon as I started the turn I realized that was not going to be an option. The jet no longer had any usable thrust and this close to the ground my only option was to eject. My concern shifted from trying to save the jet to trying to minimize the aftermath of a jet that was about to crash. Fighter aircraft have a button called the Emergency Stores Jettison that if pushed, clears everything off the wings. That day I was carrying fuel tanks carrying about 5,000 lbs of fuel under the wings as well as some other heavy inert stores. I thought for a second to buy some time by jettison some weight but elected not to since in front of me was rush hour traffic on a highway off the end of the runway. At this point I was heading straight for a trailer park. I turned the aircraft a little to the left to an area that was more sparsely populated. I then saw wide open woods further to the left and attempted to steer the aircraft there. As soon as I tried to turn the jet further to the left it went out of control and started to slice back to the right.
At that point it was very apparent to me that there was no reason for me to stay with the ship and I reached down and pulled the ejection handle. The realization that there was nothing more I could do probably saved my life because I ejected about 4 seconds prior to impact and probably less than a second from being out of the ejection envelope. This whole story took considerably longer for you to read than it actually happened. This whole story probably occurred in a timeframe of less than 20 seconds
I obviously survived the ejection and actually had no injuries at all. You would think that a situation like that would have some kind of effect on me, it would somehow change my outlook on flying, life and risk. For some reason, unknown to me, it did not. What would happen the next day would be the life changing wakeup call that I probably just hit the snooze button on.
The next day, in the spirit of getting back on the horse, I was leading a formation of 4 F-16s on a training mission. Taking off first, when I was airborne I retarded the throttle out of after burner and heard a pop. I remember thinking to myself, “I bet it’s always done that and I’m only now noticing it because I’m being hypersensitive and aware” The next thing I heard was the low speed warning alarm come on indicating I had another engine malfunction. This time I was a little higher and faster and there was no rush hour traffic underneath me, just wide open fields, I pushed the emergency stores jettison button and unbeknownst to me had another malfunction and only the stores on one wing were jettisoned leaving my aircraft in an asymmetric condition that was not certified for flight. I was able to land my aircraft in the opposite direction on the same runway I took off from just as the last guy in my formation was getting airborne.
What got my attention was after 1000’s of uneventful takeoffs, I had 2 that almost killed me back to back. I wouldn’t say I was a dare devil but after that second incident, in as many days, I definitely changed. After that my eyes were opened and I saw risk in a new light. I saw risk as the price to pay for a benefit, I saw an emerging risk/benefit tradeoff.
This new outlook probably saved my life and carried me through many dangerous periods in my life; from flying in combat during the 1st Gulf war, to being an instructor at the AF’s Top Gun School (Fighter Weapons School) where over the course of my 3 years there I attended 5 memorial services for colleagues and friends of mine, to flying as an AF test pilot, to 2 space missions and 4 space walks.
In each of those environments, no mater what the situation was, the first thing I did was access where the safe exit to the situation was, unlike the young fighter pilot of my youth I didn’t blindly charge into a situation without first answering the question; “Where’s the way out if everything goes south?” But before I ever got myself into a situation where I could possibly need an exit strategy I first asked myself, was stepping into that situation worth it? Was the potential benefit worth the risk? The answer to that question sometimes was that the potential benefit is so great and the cost of not taking action so high that I was willing to enter a situation knowing I had no way out if things went south. These situations were very rare. I had a couple of these situations in combat where not taking action and putting myself at risk would threaten the lives of troops on the ground and certainly during space missions there were times where all I had to go on was a belief that what we were doing was having tremendous benefit for the world.
In order for an individual, organization or corporation to progress, grow and succeed some risk must be taken. The safest possible space program is one that never launches anything to space – but what good is that?
What NASA does better than probably any other organization in the world is to look at a situation and then spend a great deal of time and effort figuring out before hand every possible thing that can go wrong and develop plans that can be enacted in a very short amount of time to overcome those situations.
But the trick in this type of risk mitigation strategy is knowing when and when not to apply this rigorous approach. There is a tendency at NASA to apply this rigorous risk mitigation strategy across the board. This can lead to lack of flexibility, nimbleness and lost opportunities when we can’t react fast enough to emerging opportunities.
You have to have mechanisms in place to capture great ideas and emerging lower risk opportunities and streamline a path to action.
Lets say that someone has a great idea about how to improve global health programs, sustainability, or positive social impact. It must first be noted that ideas are highly overrated.
Ideas Are Highly Overrated
What I mean by ideas are overrated is: Every great accomplishment starts with an idea – however, an idea without action is empty.
After carefully calculating the risk and weighing all aspects of the risk-benefit equation, and evaluating the underlying motivation for a course of action, in order to reap the desired benefits, a decision must be made to not only commit to action but also there has to be a willingness to step outside of your comfort zone.
Any worthwhile endeavor requires hard work and dedication, but it also requires stepping out of our comfort zone, it requires stepping out of the way we’ve always done things to look at the situation from different angles and to realize that any one of us or any one organization will not have all the pieces of the puzzle.
Just Do It
However, it is precisely those people and organizations that truly commit to making a positive change and stepping outside of their comfort zones and it’s precisely at those moments when we have the courage to embrace new and innovative ideas, approaches, and partnerships and collaborate across different disciplines, industries, cultures, boundaries and borders, those are the ones that affect real change in the world – Disruptive Change.
So please take this as a Call to action.
Dialog is great but we need action – positive, disruptive action – action that leads to exponential good, to exponential progress toward solutions to the challenges we face. We need to stop thinking linearly and embrace exponential change – change that comes from being open to innovative partnerships, and solutions. This is true innovation.
<em>This was originally posted on <a href="http://unreasonable.is" target="_blank">UNREASONABLE</a>, a global resource and centrifuge of conversation for entrepreneurs. </em><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/-BlX4Omtfbc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Tue, 12 Nov 2013 08:40:44 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/11/innovation-is-risky-business/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/11/innovation-is-risky-business/Seeing Earth From Spacehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/82Q9Q9x6wtw/We all have moments in our lives where something shifts, clicks into place. For me it was in June of 2008, when I clamped my feet to the end of the robotic Canadarm-2 on the International Space Station. With me firmly attached to the end, the arm was flown through a maneuver that we called the “windshield wiper,” which took me across a long arc above the space station and back. As I approached the top of this arc, it was as if time stood still, and I was flooded with both emotion and awareness.
Here I was, 100 feet above the space station, looking down at this incredible man-made accomplishment against the backdrop of our indescribably beautiful Earth, 240 miles below. Witnessing the absolute beauty of the planet we have been given from this perspective was a very moving experience. But as I looked down at this stunning, fragile oasis — this island that has been given to us, and has protected all life from the harshness of space — a sadness came over me, and I was hit in the gut with an undeniable sobering contradiction. In spite of the indescribable beauty of this moment in my life, I couldn’t help but think of the inequity that exists on the apparent paradise we have been given. I couldn’t help but think of all the people who don’t have clean water to drink or enough food to eat, of the social injustice, conflicts, and poverty that exists throughout the Earth.
Seeing the Earth from this vantage point gave me a unique perspective – something I’ve come to call the orbital perspective. And at its core is the undeniable and sobering contradiction between the staggering beauty of our planet and the unfortunate realities of life on our planet for many of its inhabitants.
I returned to Earth after that first space mission with a call to action. I could no longer accept the status quo on our planet. We have within our grasp the resources and technology to solve many, if not all, of the problems facing our planet yet, nearly a billion people do not have access to clean water, countless go to bed hungry every night, and many die from completely preventable and curable diseases. We live in a world where the possibilities are limited only by our imagination and our will to act. It is within our power to change much – and yet we don’t.
My second journey to space began in April, 2011 with a launch from Kazakhstan on a Russian-made rocket with a couple of Russian guys. Our launch was designated to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first human in space. We launched from the same launch pad that Yuri Gagarin launched from, very close to the 50th anniversary of that historic day.
On this second space mission, I spent half of 2011 living and working onboard the International Space Station (ISS). And while onboard, I spent most of any available free time I had with my face plastered to a window, gazing back at our Earth. As I watched our beautiful planet, I wondered what the world would be like in the next 50 years, and I pondered a question that gnawed at me constantly: If we have the resources and the technology to solve the challenges we face, why do they still persist?
Up there, hovering above Earth with my orbital perspective, I came to believe that the answer to why our world still faces so many critical problems — in spite of the ample technology and resources we have at our disposal — lies primarily in our inability to effectively collaborate on a global scale.
I’ll be discussing this in more depth in my next post, but I’d love to hear from you. What are your thoughts or ideas on how we can best address these challenges? What do you think is holding us back?
Please join me on <a href="https://plus.google.com/events/ctjihdtv5quvf23jdsl6vbsaqk0">October 11th at 11:00am ET for a Google Plus Hangout</a> focusing on global collaboration and data sharing. My hope is that the discussion serves as a call to action – disruptive action.
<em>This was originally posted on <a href="http://unreasonable.is" target="_blank">UNREASONABLE</a>, a global resource and centrifuge of conversation for entrepreneurs. </em><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/82Q9Q9x6wtw" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 26 Sep 2013 17:31:53 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/9/seeing-earth-from-space/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/9/seeing-earth-from-space/#TheKeyIsWe +SocialGoodhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/vvhVv1yi9ws/I launched into space on my last mission with a belief that we have all the resources and all the technology necessary to solve many if not all of the problems facing our world, yet nearly a billion people don’t have access to clean water, countless go to bed hungry every night and many die from completely curable and preventable illnesses.
We live in a world where the possibilities are limited only by our imagination and our will to act. It is within our power to eliminate the suffering and poverty that exists on our planet.
So we have to ask ourselves, “If we have the resources and the technology to solve the challenges we face, why do they still remain?
During my half a year on the International Space Station, I spent the majority of my spare time with my face plastered to a window pondering that question.
I believe the reason our world still faces so many critical problems in spite of our ample technology and resources lies primarily in our inability to effectively collaborate on a global scale
At the Social Good Summit this year I made the case for global collaboration.The goal of the discussion was to catalyze a global conversation about the need for sharing data.We want to continue this discussion and we want to hear what you have to say.
Please join us on October 11th at 11:00am ET for a <a href="https://plus.google.com/events/ctjihdtv5quvf23jdsl6vbsaqk0">Google + Hangout focusing on global collaboration</a> and data sharing. Our hope is that the discussion serves as a call to action – disruptive action.
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Please visit <a href="http://unitynode.org/get-involved">Unity Node</a>and tells us your thoughts on global collaboration. To join the global conversation, please join the <a href="https://plus.google.com/communities/100851207775382595702">Collaboration Community on Google+</a>.
<em>Originally posted on <a href="http://www.plussocialgood.org/">+SocialGood</a> uniting a global community of innovators around a shared vision: The power of technology and new media to make the world a better place.</em><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/vvhVv1yi9ws" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Mon, 23 Sep 2013 18:22:45 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/9/thekeyiswe-socialgood/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/9/thekeyiswe-socialgood/The Fragile Oasis Prize Medal Winnershttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/Gi4HjOuwXEw/Today, on the 44th anniversary of humanity's first steps on the Moon and the 3rd anniversary of Fragile Oasis as a platform for collaboration, we are thrilled to announce that three community nominated projects have earned the Fragile Oasis Prize Medal for making a positive impact in Education, Humanitarian Service and Peace.
Of the 120 projects submitted from all over the world, Fragile Oasis crewmembers selected <a href="http://fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/07/making-an-impact-the-fragile-oasis-prize-medal-nominees/" title="Making An Impact – The Fragile Oasis Prize Medal Nominees">nine semi-finalists</a> making a difference in Argentina, Canada, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, and in the United States. And then, over a 30-day period, crewmembers voted for one project in each category to receive a medal that flew with me for a half year on my last mission to the International Space Station.
The winners of the Fragile Oasis Prize Medal are:
<a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/free-the-water/">Free the Water</a>: The brainchild of D.M.J. March, a young Canadian who works tenaciously to raise awareness about Earth’s water and how humanity uses this most precious resource.</p>
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/Fragile-Oasis-Prize-Winners/Free-the-Water.png">
<h3>HUMANITARIAN SERVICE</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/convoy-for-hope/">Convoy for Hope – Food for Famine Relief in Somalia</a>: An initiative of the Global Enrichment Foundation and an act of courage inspired by its founder, <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/3/hope-for-somalia">Amanda Lindhout</a>.</p>
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/Fragile-Oasis-Prize-Winners/Convoy-for-Hope.png">
<h3>PEACE</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/worlds-biggest-dream-board/">World’s Biggest Dream Board</a>: Juliette Wallen’s challenge to make the world a better place, born in one California town and now spreading all over in social media, the biggest small town of them all.</p>
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/Fragile-Oasis-Prize-Winners/Worlds-Biggest-Dream-Board.png">
D.M.J., Amanda and Juliette will be joining me for a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UERhxo3ySKs&feature=youtu.be">Google + hangout</a> July 23rd, where we will discuss their individual efforts and how people everywhere can work together to improve life on Earth.
I’m excited and honored to spend time with people who are working to make life on our Fragile Oasis as beautiful for all as it is visibly beautiful from space. The Key is WE!
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/Gi4HjOuwXEw" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Sat, 20 Jul 2013 09:45:48 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/7/the-fragile-oasis-prize-medal-winners/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/7/the-fragile-oasis-prize-medal-winners/Making An Impact - The Fragile Oasis Prize Medal Nomineeshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/d0QZtneKL68/The Fragile Oasis community was established to unite crewmembers on the spaceship we call Earth in the common goal of sharing our humanity and improving our world. Its purpose is to inspire, recognize, and help each other in our collective quest to make life better on our planet.
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/1zJTA2cpkNA?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><em>One of the many <a href="https://vimeo.com/channels/cupolacorner" target="_blank">videos I shot with a webcam</a> during Expedition 27 and 28. This one shows the Fragile Oasis Prize Medal floating in the cupola!</em></div></div>
<p>To help accomplish this, Fragile Oasis crewmembers nominate Earth-based projects that are making the world a better place and have the opportunity to collaborate in the Fragile Oasis discussion forums on ideas to strengthen the individual projects or to help the project meet goals.</p>
The Fragile Oasis community <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/vote/">selected nine of these projects</a> to be considered for a <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/toolkit/fragile-oasis-prize-medals/">Fragile Oasis Prize medal</a> for making an impact on Earth in the categories of Education, Humanitarian Service and Peace. You have the opportunity to weigh in by <strong><em>voting for one project in each category by July 14th.</em></strong> We will announce the winners on July 20th, the anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, and the anniversary of the Fragile Oasis community.
I’m really looking forward to presenting medals that flew with me in space to the winning projects – one in each category. Let me tell you about each of the nominees.
<strong>HUMANITARIAN SERVICE</strong>
<a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/convoy-for-hope/">Convoy for Hope – Food for Famine Relief in Somalia</a> overcame obstacles to become one of the first humanitarian efforts in Somalia after the United Nations declared its drought the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet.
<a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/engineers-without-borders/">Engineers Without Borders</a> is helping an orphanage in Rwanda become financially self sufficient by developing a way to dry fruit growing in the surrounding hills so it can be brought to market, opening a path to sustainability and opportunity for the children’s future.
<strong><a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/solar-cooker-project-for-women-from-darfur/">Solar Cooker Project for Women from Darfur</a></strong> continuously provides the Iridimi Refugee Camp in Chad with basic solar cookers so refugees from Darfur have a way to independently cook food without having to gather firewood, a dangerous task of everyday life in the region.
<strong>EDUCATION</strong>
<a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/free-the-water/">Free the Water</a> works to raise awareness about Earth’s water and how humanity uses this most precious resource.
<a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/space-shuttle-guide/">Space Shuttle Guide</a> is working to document every light, switch and button on each of the space shuttles, developing and preserving an historical record for future generations.
<a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/surcos-argentina-argentina-grooves/">Surcos Argentina - Argentina Grooves</a> is a group of Argentinian students who help poor families plan, plant and harvest gardens, leading to better health and self-reliance.
<strong>PEACE</strong>
<a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/nobel-womens-initiative/">Nobel Women's Initiative</a> is the effort of six female Nobel Peace Laureates who take the honor of their award as the responsibility to collaboratively work for a more peaceful and just world.
<a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/project-heal-service-dogs-for-wounded-veterans/">Project Heal Service Dogs For Wounded Veterans</a> is a program that trains at-risk teenagers living in residential schools to train service dogs, then pairs both with wounded American veterans to help them live independently.
<a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/worlds-biggest-dream-board/">World's Biggest Dream Board</a> provides safe online spaces for people to dream about the future and to help each other accomplish goals.
Each of these projects, and the people who work so hard to accomplish their goals, demonstrates that you don’t have to be in orbit to have the orbital perspective.
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Please take a few moments to <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/vote/">vote for the one project in each category</a> <em>you</em> believe has the biggest positive impact.<div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/d0QZtneKL68" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 12 Jul 2013 16:18:58 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/7/making-an-impact-the-fragile-oasis-prize-medal-nominees/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/7/making-an-impact-the-fragile-oasis-prize-medal-nominees/The British Are Waitinghttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/mvFd_gNekos/On July 4, 1776, a fleet of British naval ships was waiting in New York Harbor as the representatives of the 13 American colonies gathered in Philadelphia to declare their independence from Great Britain. A few days later, two frigates raised anchor, and with guns blazing charged up the Hudson River passing fortifications on the New York and New Jersey sides.
The British Commander in Chief for America was convinced this show of force was sufficient reason for the American Commander in Chief to accept a truce. General George Washington politely declined.
<p><a href="http://www.fragileoasis.net/edavid/july4/iss040e011840.jpg"><img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/edavid/july4/iss040e011840-sm.jpg" border="0"></a></p>
(bottom) Provincetown on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where the Mayflower dropped anchor after a 3,000 mile voyage across the Atlantic from Plymouth Harbor in England; (center) New York Harbor and the mouth of the Hudson River, the planned destination of the Mayflower; New Jersey, Pennsylvania. Beyond the horizon, dreams of freedom from the orbital perspective of astronauts and cosmonauts living and working together in space 16 June 2014. Photo Credit: NASA<div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/mvFd_gNekos" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 04 Jul 2013 06:42:01 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/7/the-british-are-waiting/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/7/the-british-are-waiting/Music on the Spectrumhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/acpz-bZHPps/There is always someone playing music somewhere! Recently, I was lucky to see the spectrum from one end to the other.
First, I played onstage with the traditional Irish band The Chieftains at the Houston Symphony. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfied joined us from aboard the International Space Station. Chris has been my friend, a fellow astronaut and a fellow band member for 20 years. Then, later in the week, I was an enthusiastic member of the audience for "Music Night" at my son’s school.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragileoasis/sets/72157632893145659/"><img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/030113-Cady-Music/jsc2013e011878-6.jpg"></a>
<em>Chris Hadfield joined us from the International Space Station. That's <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/1/a-salute-to-all-the-coasties-out-there/">Dan Burbank</a> with his guitar on the right. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragileoasis/sets/72157632893145659/">More pictures here...</a></em>
Maybe it comes from the special view of our planet that I had when I lived aboard the space station, but it is clear to me that at any given moment in time, at concert halls, coffee houses and stages around the world, there are musicians sharing the magic of music. Careers will be made or broken; veterans of 50 years like the Chieftains or Jethro Tull, with a mere 40 years to their name, will continue. For others -- like me and my coffee-house band, Bandella -- we just love what happens when we make music together, and we are happy to share it.
I played my flute when I lived on the space station and brought the flutes of others with me as well. We typically conduct a few hundred <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html">science experiments</a> during our six month stays up on the station; but, in our limited spare time, we’re just people, and we have a need to express ourselves in whatever way feels right. For me, that’s music and sharing the wonder of the space station experience.
I think the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragileoasis/sets/72157632893145659">photos</a> show just how special it was for me to play on stage with some of the folks that I "played" with while I was aboard the space station. The list of space musicians is too long to publish here, but Chris Hadfield is the most recent to join the ranks. It felt just like old times when Bandella and the Chieftains shared the stage last week with him!
Somehow, being at my son’s school for Music Night brought the spectrum of musical experiences into focus for me. Many of these kids courageously stepped onstage for the first time. It could change their lives. And those of us who watched, who listened, who took the time to encourage them to share, we are part of making that difference for them.
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Look at some of our videos of music up in space! You’ll find music past and music present. As for music future, keep in mind that the space musicians who will play on Mars are probably taking their first steps onstage at a middle school near you at Music Night!
<em>Editor's note: Fragile Oasis is committed to inspiring everyone on planet Earth to use whatever skills and talents they have to take action to protect our planet. With Cady's call to action, we challenge the community to create <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/nominate/">projects</a> in the Arts related to or inspired by space. We will soon unveil a toolkit to help you do just that!</em><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/acpz-bZHPps" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 01 Mar 2013 12:27:26 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/3/music-on-the-spectrum/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/3/music-on-the-spectrum/To Be Continued ...http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/Ydo-ZGgag08/<blockquote><em>"There is no escaping our obligations: our moral obligations as a wise leader and good neighbor in the interdependent community of free nations..."</em>
– John F. Kennedy, Nov. 3, 1961 in establishing the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)</blockquote>
I have often expressed the strong belief that the technology developed for space exploration and the research conducted in space can make <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/9/jfk-rice-speech/">huge contributions toward solving many of the problems facing our planet</a>. Beginning tomorrow, I will act on that belief and go "on loan" to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). While there, I will help apply space technology to the challenges facing the developing world.
President Kennedy's landmark speech at Rice University a little more than 51 years ago shifted the U.S. space program into high gear. "<a href="http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm">We Choose To Go To The Moon</a>" became the mantra that set our nation on a peaceful path of space exploration and scientific achievement for the betterment of all humanity. A few weeks after the Rice speech, and with the same spirit of progress and innovation that would propel humans to the moon, <a href="http://www.usaid.gov/who-we-are/usaid-history">President Kennedy established USAID</a> to help lift millions out of poverty, alleviate suffering and advance the foreign policy interests of our nation.
Today, NASA and its <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/cooperation/index.html">international partners</a> continue to build on both legacies. The International Space Station is a premier and unique research facility that operates around the clock to improve life on Earth while it orbits our planet 16 times a day. The research conducted aboard the space station simply cannot be duplicated anywhere on Earth and is leading to <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/benefits/index.html">new materials, new medicines, a better understanding of the human body, environmental issues facing our planet</a>, and much more.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/022813-Garan-USAID/USAID-From-The-American-People.jpg">
<em>USAID humanitarian commodities, being unloaded at Djerba, Tunisia. Credit: AFRICOM Public Affairs </em>
USAID seeks to "extend a helping hand to those people overseas struggling to make a better life, recover from a disaster or striving to live in a free and democratic country." It has embarked on an ambitious agenda that aims to change the way it does business by establishing new partnerships, emphasizing innovation and focusing relentlessly on results. This agenda provides the opportunity to transform USAID and unleash its full potential to achieve high-impact development. I'm looking forward to being part of the team that implements these new changes as we strive to more effectively help improve the lives of others.
NASA and USAID already collaborate on significant programs to apply scientific and technological solutions to challenges facing millions around the world. My role will be to help USAID establish a broad applied research program and to act as program manager for USAID's participation in the <a href="http://www.unitynode.org">Unity Node</a> project.
The Applied Research Program seeks to find innovative ways to advance technology development and to apply new technologies to development challenges. The Unity Node project seeks to build a universal open source collaborative platform that humanitarian organizations around the world can use to work together toward their common goals.
USAID's goals are ambitious: protecting human rights, improving global health, advancing food security and agriculture, improving environmental sustainability, furthering education, helping societies prevent and recover from conflicts, and providing humanitarian assistance in the wake of natural and man-made disasters.
NASA research and experience will greatly help USAID achieve its ambitious goals. I am excited to be a part of both teams, where I'll be able to help fulfill NASA's mission of bettering life on Earth by working with USAID to give it practical application in the developing world. By combining expertise from NASA and USAID, we will help meet even more sustainable development challenges on the ground, solving problems for the world community.
I recently had the opportunity to fly what could be my last flight in a T-38 jet for a while. As I flew a few laps around the Gulf of Mexico, I remembered my last moments aboard the International Space Station before Andrey Borisenko, Sasha Samokutyaev, and I flew a <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2011/11/coming-back-down-to-our-fragile-oasis-2/">few laps around our planet prior to returning to our Fragile Oasis</a>. I felt then, and I feel now, that I'm completing one chapter of my life and about to begin a new one. It's an exciting moment, and I can't wait to see first-hand the results of applying space technology to development challenges.
<em>Suggested Viewing: Full Screen, 1080P, with the volume UP</em>
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/Ydo-ZGgag08" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:19:00 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/2/to-be-continued/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/2/to-be-continued/Hunting Asteroidshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/f0fBveSrxrE/I used to love looking out the window of the International Space Station when we were flying over the dark side of Earth, watching tiny asteroids leave bright trails as they hit the atmosphere hundreds of miles below us. These tiny asteroids also had bigger cousins who have left their mark on our fragile oasis, in places like the Manicouagan Crater in Canada. Countless other asteroids have hit Earth in the past, and we can expect countless more. Most will be harmless impacts but on occasion they’re not.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/121313-Ed-Lu/Manicouagan.jpg">
<em>The Manicouagan impact crater in northern Québec is one of the world’s largest and oldest known impact craters</em>
NASA researchers in the <a href="http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html">Near-Earth Object Program</a> have their eyes on asteroids — characterizing scientific and exploration benefits while detecting, tracking and analyzing potentially hazardous asteroids and comets. So is <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/sentinel-mission">B612 Foundation</a>, where I am the chairman and CEO. This is exactly why we have set the <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/sentinel-mission/">Sentinel Project</a> in motion.
NASA and B612 are working together under a Space Act Agreement. B612's mission is to build, launch and operate a space telescope called Sentinel to be placed in orbit around the sun, which will find and track threatening asteroids before they find us.
We have the technology to deflect asteroids (for example, <a href="http://www.neoshield.net/en/mitigation-measures/kinetic-impactor.htm">kinetic impactors</a> and <a href="http://www.neoshield.net/en/mitigation-measures/gravity-tractor.htm">gravity tractors</a>) if we have sufficient warning. But for us to employ this technology, we first have to find these asteroids. After all, we can’t protect ourselves from something we haven’t mapped yet!
<em>Sentinel will map the orbits and locations of near-Earth asteroids and give us the decades of warning we need to protect Earth from harmful impacts.</em>
The Sentinel project’s interplanetary mission will complement NASA’s efforts to accomplish its overall NEO detection and tracking mission. By sending observations back to NASA, this model of <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/categories/research/">research</a> and education may enhance our knowledge base and provide additional mission options to inspire future exploration. We are glad to have <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/sentinel-mission/">our project</a> join the Fragile Oasis community. We want to inspire you to create your own project that helps make our planet a better and safer place to live.<div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/f0fBveSrxrE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:28:16 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/2/hunting-asteroids/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/2/hunting-asteroids/One Young World Summit - The Key Is Wehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/-B835hyTdgk/Witnessing more than 1,000 young people from 200 countries building the foundation for the legacy of their generation is a remarkable experience I won’t soon forget.
These young people were delegates to the <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/one-young-world-20130103-2/">2012 One Young World Summit</a>, which helped them make the lasting connections that produce the cooperation and collaboration necessary for positive and sustainable change on a global scale.
I had the privilege of addressing the young delegates who were formulating the answer to the fundamental question, “What Kind of World Do You Want?”
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragileoasis/8406811652/in/photostream"><img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/012213-One-Young-World/Ron-Garan-One-Young-World-Summit-600.jpg"></a>
They debated, they listened to each other and they worked with counselors including <a href="http://www.oneyoungworld.com/our-network/counsellors/bob-geldof">Bob Geldof</a>, <a href="http://www.oneyoungworld.com/our-network/counsellors/kofi-annan">Kofi Annan</a>, <a href="http://www.oneyoungworld.com/our-network/counsellors/muhammad-yunus">Professor Muhammad Yunus</a>, HKH Prince Haakon of Norway, <a href="http://www.oneyoungworld.com/our-network/counsellors/jamie-oliver">Jamie Oliver</a>, <a href="http://www.oneyoungworld.com/our-network/counsellors/jack-dorsey">Jack Dorsey</a>, <a href="http://www.oneyoungworld.com/our-network/counsellors/joss-stone">Joss Stone</a> and <a href="http://www.oneyoungworld.com/our-network/counsellors">others</a>.
After three intensive days, they left the summit as <a href="http://www.oneyoungworld.com/ambassador-actions">One Young World ambassadors</a> with a hard-core commitment to galvanize their communities and make an impact in education, sustainable development, health, human rights and leadership.
Since the first summit in 2010, One Young World ambassadors have proven how effective collaboration is: they developed and presented <a href="http://themissingmdg.org">The Missing Millennium Development Goal</a> to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, and initiated the first-ever African Student Leaders Summit to pioneer African solutions to African challenges.
To date, almost four million people have been directly impacted by the work of One Young World ambassadors. More than 125 projects and initiatives in 100 countries are underway.
All involved with One Young World are proof that you don’t have to be in orbit to have the orbital perspective. These exceptional young leaders are building a legacy of positive change on our Fragile Oasis.
This is a video of my remarks, and at about 20 minutes in you'll see why I am so optimistic about the future of our planet and its seven billion inhabitants.
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/-B835hyTdgk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Tue, 22 Jan 2013 20:42:02 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/1/one-young-world-summit/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2013/1/one-young-world-summit/Changehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/4nc6hgYIZeM/Well, we are essentially packed – we even put away our Harry Potter glasses…(medical glasses to adjust for ANY vision changes with one pair of glasses). Too bad they look dorky.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/111912-Suni-Change/glasses.jpg"
Our sleeping bags go in the Soyuz tomorrow and that should be the last of our packing.
It is time to concentrate on the next task at hand – operating, working and riding in our Soyuz. It is amazing how you can automatically re-prioritize – the next task is upon us so the mind set has to change to leaving ISS safely and landing on earth safely. To do this we checked out our Soyuz and fired its thrusters to make sure everything was working and had our last training session with our instructors on descent. It is time to start getting ourselves prepared for the journey. This week I really felt like it was time to change focus. We had some maintenance stuff to do to make sure our ship is in good shape to hand over to Kevin and his crew. They will be here for five weeks as a crew of three, so we wanted to make sure she is in tip top shape.
With the change of command ceremony on Saturday, our time on the ISS has really come to an end and our focus is on descent. Last time I landed in the summer in the desert of California, in a space shuttle. This time it will be winter on the steppes of Kazakhstan in a gumdrop shaped capsule. I have a feeling I already know which one will be bumpier…
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/111912-Suni-Change/gorby.jpg"
The Change of Command Ceremony was fun. I love the fact that we are all up here together from such different places – Yuri from the Ukraine, Aki from Japan, Kevin from Indiana, Oleg from Belarus, Evgeny from Siberia and me from Boston. What a diverse group of people and somehow we all find a common ground and find humor in our daily lives together. Both crews, this one and Expedition 32, have shown that folks from such different lives, perspectives, cultures, religions can easily be really productive when working together. Think of all the possibilities with all the different nationalities, cultures and religions all over the world.
During our ceremony we gave the new crew some gifts to comfort them for the rest of their stay onboard the good ship ISS – Kevin got the Navy command Pennant, Oleg got the honorary Magnum PI shirt (Hawaiian shirt!), and Evgeny got the stuffed Gorby to keep his hippopotamus company.
Finally, we “zapped” the ship with our crew’s patch. Here we are putting it on the US segment. It'ssmartly aligned with 32 other crews that have come before us!
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/111912-Suni-Change/patch.jpg"
Think about it for a moment:
<li>100 years ago or so, we started flying, Girl Scouts were established and the Oreo cookie was invented</li
<li>50 years ago or so, the first Satellite was launched</li>
<li>25 years ago, Aki graduated from high school, I became legal to drink and Yuri became a pilot…</li>
<li>10 years ago or so, the ISS was manned for the first time – people living in space continually now…</li>
Where will we be in 10, 25, 50 or 100 years from now? It's hard to imagine, but I can’t wait to find out.
In the meantime, it is time to go home to planet Earth.
From one Earthling to another, I can’t think of a better planet to be from.
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/4nc6hgYIZeM" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Mon, 19 Nov 2012 22:14:42 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/11/change/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/11/change/With A Story To Tellhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/pwyNlZe1uWs/It’s been said a million times, “life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” It’s a beautiful quote by one of the most important and influential musicians, artists and humanitarians of all time, Mr. John Lennon. It ticks all the iconic quote boxes: it’s short, to the point and unequivocally accurate. I want to write a quote like that. Not fair John, not fair.
In my relatively short time on this big blue ball, I have found there is real truth in John’s words. Sometimes the best laid plans just change, for better or for worse. It’s easy to get caught in your own net, thrashing about until you find a positive way out. And sometimes, just sometimes, that positive escape from your own little world leaks out and makes a positive impact elsewhere.
What I really mean to say is, something positive you may have done for yourself has been interpreted completely differently by someone else and has become really meaningful to them. What a beautiful feeling that is.
For me, that positive thing was a song I had written 8 years ago - when I was 17. It was a song all about leaving the beautiful Island I had grown up on - the Isle of Man. It was about being proud of where I came from, yet anxious and eager to see the world. The song “Roll Away” was born out of both love and frustration.
<a href="http://twitpic.com/4qpczj"><img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/111712-Davy-Knowles/iom.jpg"></a>
<em>Isle of Man, the island at the center, between Great Britain and Ireland - taken from the International Space Station and <a href="http://twitpic.com/4qpczj">Tweeted to me by @Astro_Ron!</a> </em></a>
Here’s the thing - I had written it purely selfishly - it made me feel better about the situation I was in. That was its purpose for me. It’s a cliche that songwriters use all the time, but it’s true. Sometimes it really is a therapy. I had no idea then that it would lead me on a fantastic journey.
Between then and now, I have been lucky enough to start a career as a professional musician, and have ended up fulfilling that ‘Roll Away’ dream of seeing the world. As I said earlier, I grew up on the <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=76972">Isle of Man, in the British Isles</a> - I now live in Chicago, USA, and I am writing this on a flight to Tokyo. This will count as my 5th time zone this month. This nomadic lifestyle has really changed the way I think, compared to my seventeen-year-old outlook! I’ve come to learn how small this world really is - how exposed we all are, the fragility of our situation. We are all one and the same, and certainly on the same big blue boat.
I guess you could say that my experiences with music, and touring it, has really given me an orbital perspective of this wonderful planet - without having left it.
A short while back I met some wonderful people who really go above and beyond, and I had to get involved.
<font color="#0066ff"><strong>WhyHunger</strong></font>
<a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/why-hunger">WhyHunger</a> is an incredible organization and, in keeping with the ethos of Fragile Oasis, truly committed to making this planet a better place.
In a nut-shell, <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/why-hunger" title="Why Hunger">WhyHunger</a> helps source nutritious and sustainable food for those who simply don’t have easy access to it. They work with projects in the USA and all over the world to make sure that food is seen as a necessity, and not a luxury - and is available to all. WhyHunger has an orbital perspective itself - seeing this world as one whole, Regardless of borders or beliefs, everyone on it should have access to our most basic human needs.
I have also been fortunate enough to meet some truly remarkable individuals who really inspire us to make this world a better place. NASA astronauts <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/bloggernauts/Astro_Ron/">Ron Garan</a> and <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/bloggernauts/nicolestott/">Nicole Stott</a> both took my albums with them on their missions to the International Space Station.
<a href="http://twitpic.com/4qpczj"><img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/111712-Davy-Knowles/CD-In-Space.jpg">
How could I ever have planned for this? My song 'Roll Away', written all of those years ago made it into space!? Completely baffled, amazed and truly honoured!
Ron explained to me how he interpreted that little song of mine, written all those years ago, while also looking at beautiful scenery - but from a very different perspective. An orbital perspective. The island I had written about in my song had been interpreted by Ron as our Island as a whole -- that he was now looking down on. I really can’t explain this any better than Ron! All I can add is that this song, which has meant so much to me for so long, has now taken on a whole new meaning, and it is an understatement to say I am both grateful and honoured that it means so much to someone else.
I do have one last anecdote to share. Recently, at a show back on the Isle of Man <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOClhTkuVvU">the crew of the final Discovery mission presented me with a beautiful plaque containing their mission crew patch</a>. It is important for you to know I get star-struck. Embarrassingly so. One of the astronauts leans over to me and says; “That patch flew over 5 million miles.”. I mull this over (this, and the fact I am onstage with a bunch of people who have been in Space). I eventually reply, “it’s in very good shape.”
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/pwyNlZe1uWs" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Sat, 17 Nov 2012 13:46:10 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/11/with-a-story-to-tell/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/11/with-a-story-to-tell/Packing for Earthhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/GziwjqOu034/Now it is time to start thinking about coming home. Up to this point I haven’t, and sort of denied it. I am still in denial, but I am going through the motions because I don’t want to forget something when the hatch closes…so we are preparing.
Space is just really cool. I love it here, just like most folks who get to come here. It is just so cool how we adapt and become so comfortable up here. You can be standing one moment and with just a little effort, flip upside down and be hanging – “look ma, no hands!” It is just an amazing place to be. Not to mention the view…why would anyone want to leave?
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/111512-Suni-Packing/hawaii.jpg">
<em>Hawaii!</em>
So, you might ask, what do you have to pack? It is a little like the airlines, we do have a baggage limit, but slightly less – only 1.5 kg in the Soyuz. That is like 3.5 lbs., so not much. We all brought that much personal stuff up here, so we know pretty much how much we can take back – essentially the same stuff we brought up comes back down with us in the Soyuz.
We don’t pack our clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, etc. That stuff is all here when we arrive. Even our special shirts and cargo pants are waiting here for us. But, this is our personal stuff, so no one else will want it.
I have worn essentially one pair of pants this entire trip, and one pair of shorts. We don’t get “dirty” up here with dirt, but we are working on equipment, and sometimes little stains get on your clothes. Additionally, we don’t do laundry up here – we just get new stuff and “throw away” the old stuff. We don’t need to change our clothes as much as we do on the ground – not anyone up here to impress, and “smell-o-vision” has not been invented yet. Just kidding.
So, back to packing – I have some stuff, like my yoyo, my crew notebook with pictures, my specialty t-shirts I had sent up, my family photo album. It’s funny that your life actually boils down to these little things – really, think about it. Not much more is really important than the people (animals included), places and memories you have!
Last week was busy…and of course it was fun because we are in space! It doesn’t get better than that, even when all your computers don’t work and the toilet gets really broken…
Being high tech, we have tried to go paperless as much as possible up here on the ISS. This is great, and GREEN, but everything sort of comes to a screeching halt when the computer system, which provides you with all the information about your schedule and activities, dies. This happened bright and early one morning and put a little damper on our activities.
Luckily enough, all the workout equipment kept on plugging along for the most part, so we were able to buy back a little time by working out for a while, while the computer guys on the ground worked their magic on our systems. It took the better part of the day, with a little help from us, for them to reload the hard drives of two of our main servers. We do the hardware stuff and they can do all the software configurations from the ground. It is interesting to see how vulnerable we are to these types of problems. I know the folks on the ground were scrambling to get all of our systems working again.
The big thing that was not working quite right last week was the toilet. We changed out practically every part in that thing system. The KTO, or solid waste function of our toilet, was working fine. It was just really the urine processing part. We really need to make sure the right balance of urine to chemicals is put into the system to make sure the downstream components, which turn the urine back into drinking water, don’t fail. As a result, the water valves, all plumbing, two sensors and finally the water pump were all changed out. In the meantime – we used the Russian toilet – all six of us using one toilet is rough!
Aki, Yuri and I fit in our Sokol (space) suits and our Soyuz.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/111512-Suni-Packing/soyuz-inside.jpg">
<em>In Russian Sokol launch and entry sui in the Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft</em>
You know we grow up here so there is always a question about if we will really fit. In space your spine expands so you grow. The cartilage between the vertebrae doesn’t have the pressure of gravity on it, so it expands and hence, you grow. I did notice this when we were getting our suits on. I had to lengthen all the straps to get my head thru the opening. It was a little tight, but all worked out fine.
Another impression I had was wow – that Soyuz is small. It felt big when we flew up here and even roomy. But now, after living in this “grand hotel,” it seems tiny! Actually, after I nestled my way into my seat – you don’t just sit in space, you have to get held down, and that seat is actually like being in the fetal position, so you have to tighten your belts, nestle down, tighten some more, nestled down, until you are all the way in there – it felt pretty good. Of course, your knees are in your chest.
Regardless of these strange sensations, the Soyuz automatically felt like home. We all know what we need to do in there – the training is that good I think – that you don’t really think too much about it. You just know what to do.
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/GziwjqOu034" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:13:22 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/11/packing-for-earth/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/11/packing-for-earth/Turning Over A New Leafhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/g-8MbqwMqCc/Fall is beginning in the northern hemisphere. It is easy to see that from up here – the many agricultural fields that were bright green two months ago are all starting to become brown. You can’t stop time. It’s funny, these things, the natural changes on Earth, the seasons, the real day night, the wind then calm - those are the things that make life on Earth special. We don’t have them up here, so when we hear about those natural occurring changes, I miss our planet!
I’m not saying we don’t have changes up here too, because lately it really seems like we are having a lot! Last week, we had five external vehicles connected to us – two Soyuz spacecraft, one <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/progress.html">Progress</a>, one <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2216.html">ATV</a> and one <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition32/htv3_launch.html">HTV-3</a>.
In the course of one week, two left – the HTV- and one Soyuz. HTV-3 left us on Wednesday (September 12th) after we prepared the hatches, installed the gold protective covering, and then installed the latching mechanism motors. The ground team “grappled” her with the robotic arm, ran the unbolting sequence with Joe Acaba – 16 bolts, let go of the latches and moved the HTV away to a position for Joe and Aki to take over.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/091812-Suni-New-Leaf/iss032e026884-600.jpg">
<em>HTV-3 attached to the robotic arm, over the coast Morocco</em>
Then Joe and Aki opened the snares in the end of the robotic arm – which were holding the HTV-3 – and let her go free.
She hovered there for a little while, and then seemed to want to come back to us – moved ever so slightly toward the ISS instead of drifting away. We released her in a slightly lower orbit than we are – which means she should be going faster according to orbital mechanics - she should have been moving away, and forward of us. Instead she was drifting back toward us a little.
The software in the system detected this as a “safety net/corridor violation” and sent an ABORT command. As a result, she sped away from us at warp speed! It was seriously like a Star Wars film. She flew away so fast that we had a hard time tracking her on the camera.
Her name was Kounotori-3, meaning stork – so maybe she is like one of those heavy birds that take a while to get going, and then flies away at lightning speed. After some other issues with her GPS systems, she finally had a normal deorbit and entry into the atmosphere Thursday. Congratulations to our Japanese colleagues on a great mission for Kounotori-3.
The second big change was the departure of the Soyuz 30S vehicle and her contents, Gennady, Sergei and Joe! We locked them in their Soyuz at 8:30pm GMT. We stay up until they land.
We heard the undocking on the communications loop and finally saw the Soyuz a bit later as she was moving behind us. The ISS was actually flying belly first since this Soyuz was docked on the top of the Station. That way she could push off straight aft of the Station after the docking hooks were opened. So, it was difficult to find windows to watch her.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/091812-Suni-New-Leaf/soyuz-flies-away.jpg">
<em>Gennady, Sergei and Joe on their way home!</em>
Then a couple orbits and hours later she did her deorbit burn. We tried to watch but she was such a speck it was again difficult to see her.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/091812-Suni-New-Leaf/landing.jpg">
Our boys are finally back on Mother Earth. It was great to see their smiling faces on NASA TV up here, thanks to our control team who sent up streaming TV coverage.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/091812-Suni-New-Leaf/joe.jpg">
<em>Editor's Note: For another point of view, here's what Bloggernaut <a href="http://fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/09/its-what-we-do-2/" title="It’s What We Do">Cady Coleman has to say about the undocking and release of the HTV-3</a> ...</em>
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/g-8MbqwMqCc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Tue, 18 Sep 2012 20:45:05 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/9/turning-over-a-new-leaf/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/9/turning-over-a-new-leaf/It's What We Dohttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/0AcIHwtraII/<blockquote><em>September 12, 2012: The Undocking and Release of the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle-3</em></blockquote>
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/091412-Cady-What-We-Do/htv-3-nasa-tv.png">
<em>via NASA TV</em>
I might have jinxed it.
On Tuesday, September 11th, I was explaining my role as a CAPCOM (Capsule Communicator) at Mission Control Houston for the International Space Station. I said, “It’s like in <em>Apollo 13</em>, when the crew calls down and says, ‘Houston, we have a problem!’ I’m the one that says ‘Stand by!’”
The very next day, during a routine detachment from the ISS of the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle-3 (HTV-3) supply ship bound for reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, it aborted its trajectory after being released from the Canadian robotic arm. We were Houston, and we would have had a problem -- if we didn’t DO WHAT WE DO. We are explorers: We imagine - we build - we train - we fly. It is what we do.
We also take risks. To manage those risks - to make sure that we accomplish the mission and bring the crews home safely - we are constantly thinking, “What if this happens?” “What if that doesn’t happen?” And then we practice every scenario. And then we practice some more, so that on the real day, we are ready.
So what happened with the HTV, named Kounotori (meaning stork)? Precise conditions that keep the space station safe were not met, so the process aborted.
After the crew released the HTV with the robotic arm, it appeared that the 16-ton supply ship (the size of a large school bus) was slowly coming closer in our camera view. However, our data indicated that the HTV was slowly headed away from the ISS. We asked the crew with their bird’s eye view to confirm what we were seeing: that the supply ship was slowly drifting closer to the robotic arm.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/091412-Cady-What-We-Do/cady-mission-control.jpg">
In retrospect, all of our hearts were probably beating quickly as our training kicked in. Our team on the ground and the crew in space train for this kind of situation. What are we seeing? What are our options? What do we need to do?
Robotics Officer Jason Seagram was monitoring the distance to the arm and plotting how best to move it away from the HTV. Visiting Vehicle Officer Jerry Yencharis called out that he saw a positive rate away from the ISS but was puzzled by the rate toward the arm. Attitude Control Officer Greg Anderson confirms that the ISS is indeed stable, and it is the HTV that is moving.
Outside that day, the weather in Houston was terrible. We never even knew, because inside Mission Control-Houston and Mission Control-Japan we had a storm of our own. Everyone was at the top of his or her game. It is who we are, and it is what we do.
David Korth, the NASA HTV3 flight director, quickly collected the options and weighed the pros and cons. He may not have been wearing a vest and smoking a cigar like in Apollo 13, yet he was every bit the force behind our team’s cohesion on the road we were traveling.
We were just moments away from telling <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/bloggernauts/joe-acaba/posts/">Joe Acaba</a> on the ISS to maneuver the arm further away from the approaching ship, when, just as it was designed to do, the HTV-3 itself analyzed the situation, predicted that it would soon be closer to the ISS than was planned, and aborted to a safe path away from the ISS.
The crew onboard ISS, Joe Acaba, Aki Hoshide and <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/bloggernauts/sunita-williams/posts/">Suni Williams</a>, were ready on the arm and helped us follow the path of the HTV as it sailed away from the ISS.
Maki Kawashima and her <a href="http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/htv/mission/htv-3/news/htv3_reentry.html">crack team in Japan</a> fired emergency commands at the departing HTV to ensure that it continued on a good path away from the ISS. HTV was gone, free and clear. But was it really? Was the ISS really safe? Could orbital mechanics bring the ship back on a collision path with ISS?
Math - math - math - math - math. I can’t say it enough times: it is what keeps us safe. Jerry reassures the flight director that HTV-3 is already 700 feet in front of the ISS and increasing its distance.
At the end of the day, HTV-3 is on a safe path away from the ISS, the crew is asleep, and we left the next shift of folks at mission control busy planning the crew’s experiments the next day, next week, next year. The stressful part only took a few hours, but it was the longest day that I can remember in quite a while. What happened? Why did it happen? What does it mean? It takes time to sort it all out, and that’s also what we do. When things don’t go according to plan, we learn something. But for the moment, our work was done.
The HTV team and I shared something that day. <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/cooperation/index.html">Some of us are from the US, some are from Japan and some are from the rest of our cadre of international partners. </a> But we are all part of the space station world, and we are all people that make exploration work.
All the experiences that I have had over the years at NASA add up to that kind of day, and HTV-3 safely completed its journey on 14 September 2012 when it re-entered the atmosphere. The cycle begins anew.
<em>Editor's Note: For another point of view, here's what space station <a href="http://fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/09/turning-over-a-new-leaf/" title="Turning Over A New Leaf">Commander Suni Williams has to say about the undocking and release</a> ...</em><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/0AcIHwtraII" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Sat, 15 Sep 2012 12:00:53 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/9/its-what-we-do-2/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/9/its-what-we-do-2/Moonshothttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/lq5QfIQcMIU/On September 11, 1962, President Kennedy visited the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/index.html">George C. Marshall Spaceflight Center</a> where <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/vonbraun.html">Dr. Wernher von Braun</a> showed him a model of the Saturn C-5 rocket, the “vehicle designed to fulfill your promise to put a man on the moon by the end of this decade.” The next day, in an <a href="http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Ready-Reference/JFK-Speeches/Address-at-Rice-University-on-the-Nations-Space-Effort-September-12-1962.aspx">audacious speech at Rice University</a>, the president marshaled the nation’s resolve to accomplish just that.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragileoasis/7979929220/in/photostream"><img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/091212-Garan-JFK-091262/ISS016-E-8867-600.jpg">
Click for larger image</a>
<blockquote>“<i>We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…</i>”</blockquote>
The times were uncertain. Differences between the United States and the Soviet Union played out in a cold war that was a constant presence, propelling the intense rivalry that resulted in <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/people/galleries/armstrong.html">Neil Armstrong’s</a> iconic moment as the first human to step on to the surface of the Moon.
<blockquote><em>“…that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win...”</em></blockquote>
Kennedy’s speech became the pivot for the development of the technology necessary to achieve his goals in the unforgiving and harsh frontier of space.
<blockquote><em>“We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding.”</em></blockquote>
Ultimately it led to cooperation, and the realization that the <em>promise of rapidly emerging technology can only be fully realized through collaboration. </em>
Today, six humans from three different countries are living and working onboard the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/cooperation/index.html">International Space Station</a> and serve as ambassadors of all people of Earth. I was personally affected by the technology that grew out of President Kennedy’s speech when I had the privilege of traveling to the ISS twice, launching in 2008 as part of an international crew onboard the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/orbiters/discovery-info.html">American Space Shuttle Discovery</a>, and then launching in 2011 as part of an international crew onboard a <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/soyuz/">Russian Soyuz spacecraft</a>.
During the 164 days of my second mission, I spent much of my free time <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/116214152295449083654/albums/5648104889925481025">documenting what I saw 250 miles below</a>. As I looked back at our home, I faced the sobering contradiction of the incredible beauty of our planet with the unfortunate realities of life for a significant number of Earth’s inhabitants.
I launched into space with the belief that we have sufficient technology and resources to solve many, if not all, the problems facing our planet. During my time in space I often found myself contemplating the question, if we have ample technology and resources to solve problems facing our world, why do so many problems remain? I tried to capture what I believe is the answer to this question in this video:
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/49293284?byline=0&amp;portrait=0" width="600" height="338" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe>
The <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/benefits/index.html">technological benefits</a> provided by the space program and international cooperation are such an integral part of our daily lives on Earth, it is hard to comprehend just how bold President Kennedy’s challenge to go to Moon was 50 years ago. Think about it, we had barely stuck our toe in the ocean of space, we had not even learned to stand, yet but we were going to sprint.
<blockquote><em>“But if I were to say, my fellow citizens, that we shall send to the moon, 240,000 miles away from the control station in Houston, a giant rocket more than 300 feet tall, the length of this football field, made of new metal alloys, some of which have not yet been invented, capable of standing heat and stresses several times more than have ever been experienced, fitted together with a precision better than the finest watch, carrying all the equipment needed for propulsion, guidance, control, communications, food and survival, on an untried mission, to an unknown celestial body, and then return it safely to earth, re-entering the atmosphere at speeds of over 25,000 miles per hour, causing heat about half that of the temperature of the sun--almost as hot as it is here today--and do all this, and do it right, and do it first before this decade is out--then we must be bold.”</em></blockquote>
The problems facing us all today require the same boldness that was required to reach the Moon and return to Earth safely. Fifty years ago, before President Kennedy left Marshall Spaceflight Center for Rice University, Dr.von Braun turned to him and said, “By God, we’ll do it.”
Solving the problems facing our world requires that we all stand together and refuse to accept the status quo on our planet. It requires that we all commit to work together so that our planet is not only visibly beautiful, but a planet where life is also beautiful for all. In the spirit of boldness that brought humans to another world, let us all work hard to set aside our differences and work together toward our common goals.
<blockquote><em> “Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, 'Because it is there.' Well, space is there, and we're going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.”</em>
--President John F. Kennedy</blockquote><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/lq5QfIQcMIU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:01:15 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/9/jfk-rice-speech/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/9/jfk-rice-speech/Space is Busy, Active and Unkindhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/kkOIKKnz7hA/We have been pretty much up to our ears in EVA - extravehicular activity or spacewalking - preparations and then spacewalking! I think most of you know we had a spacewalk using the robotic arm Thursday, August 30th. It went sort of long.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/090312-Suni-EVA/tools-600.jpg">
<em>Getting tools ready</em>
You don’t just “go outside.” Usually that is the fun and easy part of the entire thing. The days leading up to the EVA are the intense days with battery charging, METOX (CO2 removal cartridge) regenerations, suit sizing, tool gathering and preparation, equipment gathering and preparations, studying new procedures, reviewing and talking through how to get us suited and how to get the airlock depressed, reviewing the tasks we will do with each other and with the robotic arm, talking about cleaning up, and then talking thru a plan to get back into the airlock, and any emergencies that can come up – loss of communications, suit issues, etc.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/090312-Suni-EVA/equipment-600.jpg">
<em>Aki getting equipment ready</em>
Yes, that took a lot of our time leading up to Thursday last week. Even planning when to go to sleep and what to eat are important. Remember, you are in that suit usually about 8 hours for a 6 hour EVA.
To my surprise, the most intense part for this EVA happened to be outside when we encountered our “<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition32/exp32_eva2.html">sticky” bolt</a>.
That resulted in a long EVA, and over 10 hours in the suit. No bathroom and no lunch.
One lesson I learned last time I was up here – you can’t get married to a plan. It seems like something you thought was going to be difficult turns out to be easy, and something you thought was going to be easy turns out to be hard. Why that is, who knows. It’s like when you are jogging on a lonely road, somehow cars going the opposite direction cross each other just when you are jogging next to them and there is a biker passing you. Why? Who knows! That was the case with the “sticky bolt.” We thought that part of the EVA was going to be easy – it ended up taking most of our time.
One thing we sort of forget about is the environment outside when we are working inside, most of the time. We get used to this being a “static” environment – watching the world go by. Well, it isn’t.
Space is busy, active and unkind. It gets really hot and cold outside. There are solar flares (makes nice auroras, but is radiation), solar wind and vacuum. All this does a number on a spacecraft, and on us.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/090312-Suni-EVA/iss032e024154-600.jpg">
<em>That's me and Aki in silhouette during our August 30th spacewalk</em>
It is amazing how you feel the sun set and rise through your spacesuit – even with your eyes closed you would know it – you can feel the heating change!
The same goes for all the material on the “outside” of the station - the metal in those bolts have probably “felt” the changes in the environment too – for the last 10 years. The station has been thru a lot of heat cycles when you consider 16 day/night cycles in a 24-hour period.
After Thursday’s “experimentation with torque and bolt turns,” a ton of folks at Johnson Space Center started working on a plan for the “next” EVA for us to go out and try again to move the bolt and install our box.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/090312-Suni-EVA/jsc2012e211707-600.jpg">
<em>Drew Feustel (left) and Mike Fossum worked with other astronauts and engineers to evaluate procedures for tomorrow's spacewalk </em>
They have been working all weekend and as a result we have learned some of the nuances of the mechanism that we weren’t aware of…so we are a lot smarter on how the bolt aligns and reacts. They have given us a pretty inclusive plan on how to try to work it again, probably on Wednesday.
We have been making tools to use outside to get the bolt and the housing ready to try again. Lots of folks suggested that WD40 would do the trick, but getting a can of that stuff to work in space is sort of difficult. So, we have a couple other tricks up our sleeve. Tune in on Wednesday and check us out – we are taking a lubricant - chemically inert, non-flammable - in this environment. It worked to help the Solar Array Rotary Joint work better, so hopefully it will work to get this bolt installed!
I have to add, in case you were wondering, this isn’t just some sticky bolt either. It connects a box that routes 25% of the power that comes to the station from our Solar Arrays. So, a large amount of juice from the sun is not getting to us in this situation. To add a little salt into the wound, we actually lost another part of a power channel Saturday night – a tripped circuit breaker way upstream toward the solar array. So it has to share its load with the other solar arrays too. In NASA lingo, we are getting close to “zero fault tolerant” – meaning no backups – on some of the stuff we power up.
So, it would be good if the box (power switching unit) with the sticky bolt got installed.
Aki and I are out the door <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/living/index.html">Wednesday morning</a>.
<em>Editor's note: Spacewalkers Sunita Williams and Akihiko Hoshide will go outside the International Space Station Wednesday, September 5th to attempt to complete installation of a spare power unit on the station's truss. The spacewalk is set to begin at 7:15 a.m. EDT, with <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html">NASA TV coverage starting at 6 a.m.</a></em>
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/kkOIKKnz7hA" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Mon, 03 Sep 2012 17:42:59 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/9/space-is-busy-active-and-unkind/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/9/space-is-busy-active-and-unkind/Every Person Knows The Name Neil Armstronghttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/VVKq2CNBiRg/Saturday was a sad day for this planet. I was thinking about it, and I’ll bet practically every person on (and off) this planet knows the name Neil Armstrong.
It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, what you do for a living, what kind of car you drive, or how many kids you have – most everyone here from school kids to the elderly know who Neil Armstrong was.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragileoasis/7887921170/in/photostream"><img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/082812-Suni-Neil-Armstrong/ESC_large_ISS016_ISS016-E-8867-600.jpg">
<em>Click for a full size image</em></a>
I was thinking about why we all knew him – he was a humble giant who took that first step and sparked the spirit of adventure again in all of us. A true hero we will all miss. I am sure the next “Neil Armstrong” is out there today and will follow Curiosity’s tracks on Mars before long.
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/VVKq2CNBiRg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Tue, 28 Aug 2012 01:39:31 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/8/every-person-knows-the-name-neil-armstrong/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/8/every-person-knows-the-name-neil-armstrong/Mixed Baghttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/UjupemKbKkA/The past week sort of defines long duration space fliers.
We certainly don’t do the same thing every day, and every day was different with different types of activities for all of us. There is an awesome group of people on the ground – the planners – who know what all the constraints are for all the activities we need to do. Somehow they make it all work. For example, I had to wear a device that would hinder the use of my left hand for 24 hours, but first I had to fly the robotic arm and work out, and then I had to make sure I had it off in time for me to do a weight lifting exercise the next day. That is just one example of the puzzle these folks on the ground solve every day. We just stick to the schedule up here and somehow it all seems to work. These folks are amazing.
There is a little red line on the computer’s daily schedule which marches across the page with time. So we know if we are ahead or behind schedule. If we are behind, we all seem to pitch in and help each other out to get all of our stuff done. If we are ahead, well that is a good time to take a break, check in with each other, and then see if there is “task list” (extra stuff) we can do. We manage to squeak in taking photos of each other and outside for “historical documentation” (that is from Galaxy Quest but we actually had photo documentation with that name on it for some of our tasks this week – that made me crack up!). But usually by 8pm, we just get dinner ready and relax – no more watching the line after 8pm.
Before bed, lots of science, some operations, some maintenance, and a little relaxing!
Food Frequency Questionnaire
This week instead of having a controlled diet, I just had to write down everything I ate, including the times that I ate them and approximately how much water I drank.
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/Integrated_Cardiovascular.html">Integrated Cardio Vascular (ICV)</a>
ICV involves wearing blood pressure cuffs on your fingers – actually really cool technology that can essentially estimate your cardiac output by measuring the blood pressure in your fingers. There is a computer attached to it which puts pressure into the cuff of a finger to counter the blood pressure. So, you get this continuous pressure pulsation on your fingers and the associated motor noise. We wear this for 24 hours and power the pump by Makita drill batteries. They last only about 3 hours, so battery change outs are required during the night.
ICV also involves wearing a holter monitor for 48 hours with an <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/Actiwatch.html">Actiwatch</a>. The <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/Holter.html ">holter monitor</a> is a portable device for continuously monitoring various electrical activity of the cardiovascular system. No big deal, just get wired up for a couple days. The biggest issue here is the sticky stuff that holds the electrodes on. After a day – which should involve some exercise – it starts to itch. Maybe I just have sensitive skin, but it seems to leave us red and blotchy at times. Actiwatches are used to sense motion and light. These watches and their data show when we are doing some activity. All three of these devices (blood pressure cuff, holter monitor, Actiwatch) are used together to accurately depict what we are doing to make our heart work.
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/Biological_Rhythms_48hrs.html">Bio Rhythms</a>
This is a Japanese experiment that’s also looking at what is going on with us inside and out. This one involved wearing another Actiwatch for motion and light for 72 hours. Then another type of cardiac monitor similar to the holter monitor. This Japanese technology is small, lightweight, and can even be worn in the shower. Pretty reliable! However, I had these experiments one after another this week. It is Sunday night and I am finally free of all the electrodes! I sort of forgot about them – but like I said, working out with all this stuff on gets a little yucky! I was happy to finally get a good wash down of all that sensor sticky stuff this evening – after the Falmouth Road Race! (more about the road race below)
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/Reaction_Self_Test.html">Reaction Testing</a>
Essentially you have a black screen on your computer. You need to hit the space bar as soon as you see numbers counting. I am generally around 200 milliseconds. I was watching swimming and running during the Olympics, and they were talking about the importance of getting a good start at the gun. I think this test can identify who can start quick and who can’t!
Cleopatra and Nefertiti Update
All the doors are open for the fruit flies to come out and be prey to Cleopatra and Nefertiti. Nefertiti is still quite active and eating away. Our little Cleo is still shy…we haven’t seen her. However, for both of them, I fear their destiny. I see next week Joe is tasked with taking them out of the “rack” where we have them stowed – not sure where he is taking them. You know, they don’t need to drink water since they liquefy the fruit flies and use their body water…but I don’t think this can last forever...maybe more to follow.
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/youtube_space_lab.html">
Second YouTube Space Lab Winners </a>
Sara and Dorothy from Troy, Michigan won the 14-16 year-old category. They are just too smart for me. They came up with the idea to test the growth of a type of bacteria, which is used for getting rid of stuff like mold, etc. on plants, which we use for food in space. I think seeing how these bacteria do in space is really cool – especially in light of the landing on Mars. If we do end up growing our own food on the way to Mars, we might need something like this to make sure it remains good during the growth cycle. If the bacteria grows better in space than on Earth, then we might be able to produce it up here. Endless possibilities. These teenage girls are smart!
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/BCAT-5-PhaseSep.html ">
Binary Colloidal Alloy Test (BCAT) </a>
More for Joe!!!
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/081612-Suni-Mixed-Bag/iss032e014593-600.jpg">
He has a lot of patience and very good camera skills. He set up an intervalometer to take pictures of the colloids for 4 days! An intervalometer is a device that counts intervals of time and is used to signal, in accurate time intervals, the operation of some other device. One picture an hour. Science takes time!
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/CFE-2.html">Capillary Flow Experiments (CFE VG2)</a>
Watching fluid flow on different surfaces in space. No gravity to hinder the flow, so we are investigating how different surfaces (shapes, perforations, etc.) make fluid flow. Looks just like a lava lamp – but has really great spinoffs for making new types of fuel tanks, for example, for space travel. Pumps can fail – natural phenomena like this won’t for the long trip to Mars!
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/BASS.html">Burning and Suppression of Solids (BASS) </a>
More burning stuff in the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/msg_anniversary.html">microgravity glove box!</a> We burned a little 2 cm sphere that looked like the sun whizzing through the air. It was bright orange like the sun, with flowing flames behind it – thankfully all contained in the glove box! We also burned different fibrous materials at different airflow speeds to understand how much of that 3rd leg of the fire triangle is needed to sustain a fire. Cool science!
Speaking of fire, we also have a combustion chamber. Joe did work on that to reinstall some very small fuel lines.
Unpacking, Still!
The H-II transfer vehicle (HTV) unpack is almost done! Will be done soon. But in the meantime – we got to load some trash. This place is shaping up and we are getting rid of lots of “common trash.”
Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Robotics
Joe and Aki used the Japanese robotic arm to “grapple” the HTV – to unload external payloads from the External Platform that HTV brought up.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/081612-Suni-Mixed-Bag/iss032e016906-600.jpg">
This is such a cool idea! Not everything needs to come inside the ISS. Some experiments and replacement boxes for outside can just stay stored outside. So with the External Platform, we can carry these large things in an unpressurized part of HTV and transfer them to the ISS.
Spacewalk
Getting closer and closer to August 30th when Aki and I will do an EVA. So, we had to start really cleaning out the airlock! Even got to open up our suits and test the “positive pressure relief” system in the suit. Remember, the suits are essentially little space craft so they have all the valves, tanks, cooling, heating, that we have on ISS to keep us alive. <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2011/7/sts-135-spacewalk-wrap-/">These suits haven’t been used for a while</a>, so we are starting to do our “preflight” on them to get them ready!
Exercise
It has been an exhausting week for exercise. Of course we are doing our integrated resistance and aerobic training study (SPRINT) aerobic workouts – which get my heart rate way up there. We are also doing max rep exercises on the advanced resistive exercise device (ARED) now. This is different from last time, because we only lift every other day with this protocol. I was a little wary, but after this week, I think I understand, I need some recovery from this type of workout. I am getting that 2nd day onset muscle soreness with these maximum repetition routine. I like doing a lighter aerobic workout on the lifting days to try to get rid of some of that lactic acid. That seems to help.
Also this week in exercise, <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/VO2max.html">I had my Maximum VO2 test</a>. Now that isn’t too much fun, I will admit. We are again wired up, and the equipment measures the difference in what you breath in and what you breath out as the exercise intensity increases until you can’t take it anymore. We do this on the cycle ergometer with vibration isolation and stabilization (CEVIS).
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/081612-Suni-Mixed-Bag/iss032e016876-600.jpg">
We have to do this with a nose clip – which is annoying – to make sure they can account for all the air exchange. Of course we are breathing in and out thru a mouthpiece. Lots of mixing bags, hoses, sample catheters, etc. in this contraption…but in the end, I think my VO2 max is pretty good!
Finally, I ran alongside a lot of friends during the Falmouth Road Race in Massachusetts! We tuned into the pre-race festivities through our communication system. I was hoping to wish everyone good luck as well, but we lost communication.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/081612-Suni-Mixed-Bag/falmouth-road-race.jpg">
However, I started on time (well, 10 minutes late, because of the torrential rain in Falmouth - no rain up here) with the rest of the runners. I finished in around 1:03:52. I had a couple of “water breaks”, but made it thru the 7.2 miles no problem. The first half of the run was my SPRINT protocol and the second was a nice consistent pace until that final “hill” and downhill to the end.
Food
Had a pesto pasta dinner to go along with the pre-race theme. I had to dig deep to find it in the side dishes container, but I found it! We also have oranges from a Progress 48P delivery. Nothing better than fresh fruit!!!
For pre-race breakfast, something light – I had vegetable quiche. Only need to add hot water and it is ready. Even some bits of broccoli inside – not bad!
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/081612-Suni-Mixed-Bag/race-breakfast.jpg">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/UjupemKbKkA" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 17 Aug 2012 09:30:32 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/8/mixed-bag/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/8/mixed-bag/Why Should We Spend Money on Space Exploration When We Have So Many Problems Here on Earth?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/ZHD66upEAN8/I’m asked all the time, “Why should we spend money on space exploration when we have so many problems here on planet Earth?”
<font color="#00a5f4">Two-Way Technology Transfer</font>
During the past 50 years we frequently heard about the many amazing <a href="http://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2011/index.html">spinoffs</a> from the human spaceflight program - everything from personal computers to solar energy. Now, we are also seeing direct tangible benefits from the research being conducted on the International Space Station (ISS).
The ISS provides a unique environment for scientific discovery that simply cannot be duplicated anywhere on Earth. Research on this orbiting laboratory is not only enabling humans to explore the solar system, it is leading to countless improvements for life on Earth. For example, space based science offers an environment to foster new materials, better medicines, improved methods to provide clean water, and better ways to grow enough food to feed our increasing global population. Studying astronauts living and working in space also enhances our understanding of the human body, resulting in innovative ways to protect all humans from many different ailments. <a href="https://vimeo.com/33104333">The list of benefits is endless</a>.
I like to point out that the space program technology transfer is two-way. Many NASA engineers give their expertise and spare time to apply space program technology to problems facing the developing world. In doing so, they learn valuable lessons that will allow us to push space exploration beyond low-earth orbit. <em>The highly efficient engineering approaches that are required in the developing world - robust solutions that do not require a lot of maintenance, resupply or training - are the same approaches we need to employ if we are going to break out of the bounds of low-earth orbit.</em>
Each year, NASA celebrates one invention out of many spinoff technologies as the NASA Commercial Invention of the Year. A solar powered refrigerator designed to support life on the Moon, but with huge application on Earth, earned the prestigious title for 2011. With approximately 2 billion of Earth’s inhabitants without access to electricity, this technology developed at NASA’s Johnson Space Center will help us explore space as well as significantly improve the lives of so many on Earth.
Co-developers <a href="http://www.google.com/patents/US6253563">Mike Ewert and David Bergeron</a> worked on NASA’s Advanced Thermal Team to develop solar refrigeration technology to cool habitats in space. They also realized the need for a comparable solar refrigerator that could operate in conjunction with the simple solar lighting systems already in place on Earth. A modified lunar “solar photovoltaic heat pump” was developed to produce a refrigerator with a vapor compression, <em>battery-free cooling system</em> that converts electricity from solar panels into thermal energy stored internally, using low-cost phase-change materials that control temperature swings. This system eliminates reliance on an electric grid, requires no batteries, stores thermal energy for efficient use when sunlight is absent, and is designed to work anywhere in the world.
Such a scalable, energy-efficient resource can be an incredible asset in places people don’t have refrigeration, including remote medical centers and underdeveloped areas. Electricity is essential for storage of vaccines and medicine. This technology can greatly reduce the cost and increase the availability of vaccines delivered to the most impoverished regions of the world.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/081512-Garan-Solar-Refrigeration/solar-refrigerator.jpg">
<em>The solar powered refrigerator has been <a href="http://apps.who.int/immunization_standards/vaccine_quality/pqs_catalogue/categorypage.aspx?id_cat=17">approved by the World Health Organization</a> to provide cooling for vaccines in developing countries - a direct result of NASA’s two-way technology transfer.</em>
According to Mike Ewert, this is just the beginning, “The NASA battery-free solar technology could be used to cool milk, produce or other consumer products in under-developed regions around the world, thus creating economic opportunities and improving lives on Earth.”
<iframe width="600" height="338" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WdzKlmMFGA8?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This technology is part of <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/partnerships/index.html">NASA’s Innovative Partnerships Program</a>, which seeks to transfer technology into and out of NASA to benefit the space program and U.S. industry.
NASA invites companies to inquire about the licensing possibilities for the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/techtransfer/technology/MSC-22970-1_Solar-Refrigerator-TOP.html">Solar-Powered Refrigeration Technology (MSC-22970)</a>. For information about this and other technology licensing opportunities, contact:
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/partnerships/index.html">Strategic Opportunities and Partnerships Development Office</a>
NASA Johnson Space Center<div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/ZHD66upEAN8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:44:44 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/8/two-way-technology-transfer/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/8/two-way-technology-transfer/Climbing Mountains Under the Seahttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/vgWpKqH7skY/<em>Editor's note: Have a question for Cady about her exploration here on Earth? Ask her live at 1:30pm Eastern time Wednesday, August 15, 2012. <a href="http://www.nautiluslive.org">Select 'participate' while you watch from the Nautilus Live website.</a></em>
What’s a nice girl from the International Space Station doing on a ship in the middle of the Mediterranean – climbing a mountain? I’m currently <a href="http://www.nautiluslive.org">aboard the E/V Nautilus</a>, a 210 foot research vessel, exploring the Eratosthenes Seamount off the southern coast of Cyprus.
<a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/106278598922202104029/albums/5776709871207131313"><img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/081512-Cady-Nautilus-Mountain/On-Nautilus.jpg"><em>Hobbes and I on the deck of the Nautilus (left) and Hercules, (right) one of two undersea robots that collect geological and biological samples.</em>
</a>
Hobbes, the plush tiger who traveled to space with me, the crew of the Nautilus, and I are "climbing" this ancient undersea mountain that rises from 3,000 feet below the surface of the Mediterranean Sea. We’re exploring with scientific robots in search of unique geological and biological phenomena to help better understand planet Earth.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragileoasis/7787724330/in/photostream"><img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/081512-Cady-Nautilus-Mountain/ESC_large_ISS030_ISS030-E-194518-600.jpg"></a>
<em>The Eratosthenes Seamount is located in the Mediterranean southwest of Cyprus. This is a view of the area photographed from the International Space Station 22:50 GMT March 27, 2012. Credit: NASA</em><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/vgWpKqH7skY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Tue, 14 Aug 2012 08:29:21 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/8/climbing-mountains-under-the-sea/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/8/climbing-mountains-under-the-sea/Laboratory In Spacehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/GxzASmnox6w/Lots of fun and interesting science with a quick break for the arrival of Progress (unpiloted resupply ship). That means even fresher fruit and care packages for us, as well as lots of supplies, including our EVA cables…more on that in a later post.
We are not the experts in all the science that we do up here – there are many people on the ground ready to support us when we are doing the experiments. Experts on the science and systems are located all over the world. They get “patched” into our communications loops so at times we get to talk to them WHILE we are performing the tasks. We usually have a video camera set up over our shoulders so they can “watch” what we are doing and how the experiment is going. We have experiments that need our eyes on them to watch for changes, and to report. Remember, things up here act differently than on Earth. We all think we know what will happen, but the beauty of science is that sometimes we get surprised, especially when this is really the only place to do this type of stuff.
Cleopatra and Nefertiti
Cleopatra and Nefertiti are our two spiders. Cleopatra, the zebra spider seems to be either very clever or very shy. She has disappeared. She was the first one I met and was pretty active when I first saw her. She is sort of small, like the size of the holes where the fruit flies live…so, we think she was maybe really hungry and went into one of the holes. If so, she was having a buffet in there. There are cameras on them in the habitat so the ground can watch and they saw evidence that there was webbing in one of the fruit fly holes. My only worry about her is that she will eat too much, grow a lot and get stuck in there…the life of a Spidernaut.
Nefertiti, on the other hand, is too big. She is sort of scary. I am so glad I am not a fruit fly. I opened up the habitat and actually saw her running around at full speed looking for something to eat. I was difficult to even get a steady picture. Then a fruit fly came out. Nefertiti stopped, she stalked and then she pounced. It was amazing to see this with my own two eyes. Apparently they inject some acidic fluid in the fly body, which liquefies the insides, and then she sucks everything out of the fly. The only thing left is the carcass…and I saw many carcasses floating around in her twisted web. Note her 4 eyes and the fruit fly in her mouth! I was told she has excellent vision. Again, I am so happy to not be a fly – reminded me of that futuristic movie Starship Troopers. Yikes!
Pro K Investigation
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/Pro_K.html">Dietary Intake Can Predict and Protect Against Changes in Bone Metabolism During Spaceflight and Recovery</a>
This is a controlled diet investigation. It is interesting when you can’t choose for yourself…immediately you start feeling deprived. I think this is why diets don’t seem to work in the end. You just can’t wait to get off it and then go crazy! At least that is my personality. The idea has been to see if a high animal protein diet contributes to bone loss. This is not as important on the ground as it is here in space. Living in space immediately starts to change the body, and one of the unfortunate side effects is bone density loss because we don’t need a skeletal structure to hold us up. Immediately the body starts to redistribute calcium. That is why we do weight bearing exercises up here – to help prevent it. Well, an additional theory is that the acid created in breaking down animal protein also leaches calcium out of the bones as it is used as a neutralizing agent for the acid. So, we are testing out a high animal protein diet versus a low animal protein diet.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/080912-Suni-Lab-In-Space/iss032e011639-600.jpg">
<em>Associated with the menu is how to test it. Of course there is sampling after 4 days of these diets – that means 24 hours continuous of taking urine samples, which we insert in the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/MELFI.html">MELFI freezer</a> (Minus Eighty Laboratory Freezer)
</em>
BCAT-5
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/BCAT-5-PhaseSep.html">Binary Colloidal Alloy Test-5: Phase Separation</a>
There are many different types of samples that potentially form colloids differently here than on earth. We get them ready, place them somewhere on the ISS in a certain orientation, let them sit for a while and then photo document them. This is pretty difficult photography with micro lenses to try to take a picture of the potential crystals. The depth of field is small with crystals, making it hard for the camera to “see” them. It is like trying to take pictures of a prism. I need more photography work on this small scale! Very interesting though how they crystals vary from sample to sample.
ACE
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/ACE-1.html">Advanced Colloids Experiment</a>
Working with a high-powered microscope to look at samples here in space. I was essentially a technician. We mix samples with a magnet, install samples that we have here, change out lenses for the microscope and get it all ready for the ground teams to run sessions to look at and analyze the samples. Pretty meticulous work, but fun to see how we can work together with the ground teams.
Treadmill Kinematics
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/Treadmill_Kinematics.html">Biomechanical Analysis of Treadmill Exercise on the International Space Station</a>
Treadmill Kinematics evaluates the difference between running in space and running on the ground. We sort of assume that it is the same when the folks on the ground have us do exercise up here. But in fact, with the harness and microgravity, we aren’t even sure we are working the correct parts for bone density and muscle mass deficits. By videotaping ourselves at different speeds, the folks on the ground can figure out the differences.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/080912-Suni-Lab-In-Space/iss032e011701-600.jpg">
<em>I saw a similar thing on training Olympic swimmers when they push off the wall – you’ve seen the dolphin kick thing they do now. Folks analyze the position of the ankle, knee and hip to record and see the motion and see what the result is – speed in that case. Maybe proper position in ours.</em>
More SPRINT
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/Sprint.html">Integrated Resistance and Aerobic Training Study</a>
I am into SPRINT now. The interval running workouts are getting intense. Weight lifting workouts have been difficult with 12 repetitions per exercise. We’re decreasing the repetitions and increasing the weight….should be fun?
After all that working out, and finally not having to eat “what I am told to eat” for the Pro-K, it was time to really EAT! After all of us were off the “diet” we opened some of our bonus containers and had a smorgasbord while watching the Olympics together.
We had chips (corn tortillas broken in pieces) with bean dip from Joe, nacho cheese spread from me, fish in miso sauce from Aki. Gennady, Yuri and Sergei joined in and we had fun all eating together and cheering for our teams.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/080912-Suni-Lab-In-Space/space-sofa-600.jpg">
I felt like continuing the Mexican theme and had beef fajitas the next day on a flour tortilla with spicy corn.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/080912-Suni-Lab-In-Space/starving-600.jpg">
<em>Notice our “table” in the background. It just consists of a place to Velcro the food; stick it down with duct tape, and a place for baby wipes to clean our silverware. We got some grapefruits and apples from the Progress cargo ship -- crunchy and REAL!</em>
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/GxzASmnox6w" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:47:22 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/8/laboratory-in-space/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/8/laboratory-in-space/Sharing the Olympic Spirithttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/IHFuSZBudRs/"<em>Watching the Olympics reminds us that we share one planet and that we can respect one another no matter what our differences, yet at the same time we can be proud of who we are and what we represent."</em>
Every week, usually at the end of the day on Friday, we have a conference with our Lead Flight Director, Dina Contella. At the start of this week’s conference, she put the week into perspective. She said this time last week (our conference was on a Thursday because of HTV arrival on Friday) HTV had not docked, 47 Progress was in a standby position waiting to re-dock (which it did and then departed for good), 48 Progress had not launched (it is now attached to the Station), nothing had been unloaded or packed on HTV and we had approximately 40 hours of science to do. Sometimes we get so caught up in working day to day we don’t realize what can be accomplished in a week. I think everyone can agree it was a productive week.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/080712-Acaba-Sharing-Olympic-Spirit/iss032e010700-600.jpg"
Even with all the work we had to do, we found time to get together and watch the Olympics. Of course everyone knows there is something special about the Olympics and that feeling is not lost in space. We were able to see Michael Phelps become the most decorated Olympian and Gabby Douglas’ nerves of steel as she won the individual Gymnastics gold medal. If you have read any of my previous blogs, <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/bloggernauts/joe-acaba/posts/">you know that I enjoy my sports</a>. To have two weeks to watch the best athletes of the world compete is a dream come true for any sports enthusiast. To watch them while orbiting above the Earth makes them even more special for us (even though we often miss the end of a competition because we lose satellite coverage).
I have noticed two things while watching these games. One is that no matter what the sport or which country is winning, we all appreciate the efforts of the athletes and acknowledge their abilities. We truly have an international crew on the ISS: three Russian cosmonauts, one Japanese astronaut and two American astronauts (one of Indian descent and one of Puerto Rican descent). While we work together as one team we still maintain our national pride. Just like watching a basketball game with your buddy that is from a different city, we give each other a hard time but congratulate with sincerity the winning team or individual. It is easy to see why we do this when you look out the window from the ISS. We all come from the same place, Planet Earth.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/080712-Acaba-Sharing-Olympic-Spirit/iss032e010650-600.jpg"
The other aspect of the Olympics that makes even the non-sports fan enjoy these games is the personal stories of the athletes. Each athlete has taken their unique path to the games, just as each of us walks on his own unique path. Even though we come from different places, we can all relate to many of the obstacles the athletes have faced and overcome. A common theme heard from all the athletes is their pride in representing their country and the hard work they have put in. I understand as I am proud to represent the United States and the Puerto Rican community as an Astronaut. Gennady, Yuri, and Sergey feel the same about Russia; as does Aki with Japan and Suni with the US and India. However, you don’t need to be an Astronaut or an Olympian to be proud of where you come from or what you do. As a school teacher, I was proud of the work I did to help develop our future leaders. I think watching the Olympics reminds us that we share one planet and that we can respect one another no matter what our differences, yet at the same time we can be proud of who we are and what we represent. I look forward to another week of great competition and sportsmanship and of course work. We have a lot of cool things planned for this week. <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html">Keep an eye out for Curiosity</a>.
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/IHFuSZBudRs" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Tue, 07 Aug 2012 20:52:01 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/8/sharing-the-olympic-spirit/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/8/sharing-the-olympic-spirit/Spidernauts!http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/x5dBdc5hpvI/People always ask if it gets boring up here. I can unequivocally say NEVER! It seems like something is always happening. We were talking about all the activities we do in one day, and how they can range from vacuuming, to changing out the toilet can, to drawing blood, taking acoustic measurements, to ultra sounding your heart, to capturing an HTV, to unpacking and repacking, to doing a SPRINT exercise, to doing a spacewalk! Last week we did lots of science while vehicles were coming and going – it doesn’t get much better.
We have been busy so I haven’t had much dedicated window time and I will confess, my space photography skills are not where they need to be – I am working on it but this planet turns and we fly over it so fast…
Some of What We Did Last Week:
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/Sprint.html">SPRINT (Integrated Resistance and Aerobic Training Study)</a>
SPRINT is an exercise protocol that consists of sprinting workouts on the treadmill, 8 x 30-second sprints, 6 x 2-minute sprints, or 4 x 4-minute sprints. These really kicked my butt and got my heart rate up in the 180s. This protocol also involves heavy lifting, but we are still trying to figure out the right amount of weight to do these sets with.
The ARED (Advanced Resistive Exercise Device) is amazing (more below). It can do bar exercises and rope exercises. It is free floating so we don’t put loads into the ISS, just like the treadmill and the bike. If they didn’t have vibration isolation systems associated with the exercise equipment, the ISS would feel lots of stresses, particularly on the solar arrays that are huge and “outboard.” Hence a huge moment arm of force would cause them to be damaged.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/080612-Suni-Spidernauts/ared-600.jpg">
Ultrasound
We ultrasound our hearts both resting and during exercise (Joe and I did this). We ultrasound our legs to see muscle size and development for SPRINT (above). We ultrasound our carotid artery, our portal vein and gall bladder, our kidney arterial and veins, our femoral artery and our tibial vein. These are for an experiment called <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/Vessel_Imaging.html ">vessel imaging </a>so the investigator can make a 3D image. Pretty cool to look inside ourselves! I didn’t see anything I wasn’t supposed to see.
Exercise
Aki and I have ramped up our exercise, and are doing regular twice daily workouts – one aerobic, one resistive with “weights.” <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/ARED.html ">The Advanced Resistive Exercise Device, ARED</a>, allows us to really get a good workout for things like squats and dead lifts. These are most important because we immediately start losing bone and muscle mass up here. This device has been awesome since it got here. It works on the concept of pushing against a vacuum, and it is very effective.
Acoustic Measurement
These are a periodic measurement on ourselves and in different parts of the ISS to record the amount and types of noises we hear all day long.
Maintenance & Housekeeping
We had to clean house and organize before we got a bunch more stuff – HTV is here so we have to make room for all of her stuff too.
Fire Drill
Reviewed of all emergency equipment and, just like in elementary school, we had a fire drill. We went through all our procedures to make sure we know who was doing what and how the control centers would act and help us.
Preparations for HTV (The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-3)
We cleaned up the cupola and installed computers, reviewed our procedures and practiced on our simulator we have here as a crew of three. Everyone has a role and responsibility and it is best to make sure we all know what to expect. We practiced all this on Earth before we came up here, but the real robotic arm and the real vehicle make you want to practice a little more before it all happens.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/080612-Suni-Spidernauts/iss032e010859-600.jpg">
The HTV came in close and just stopped! It was amazing, and the vehicle is beautiful. <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/multimedia/gallery/iss032e010436.html">Joe drove the arm perfectly over the grapple pin and we grabbed her</a>. It was awesome.
Then, the ground “flew” HTV with the robotic arm close to the docking port. Aki took over from there and “mated” the HTV to the docking port. The ground crew and I drove the latches and bolts (thru computer commands) to connect the HTV to the ISS. Next we had to pressurize the vestibule between the docking port hatch and the HTV hatch so we could open them both and get in. Lots of pressure checks and time to make sure there aren’t any leaks!
Spidernauts
We opened the hatch to HTV and started unloading. One of the first things unstowed was a payload from the winner of a <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/YouTube_Space_Lab.html ">YouTube Spacelab contest</a>. Thousands of kids from all over the world submitted biology and physics experiments via a 2-minute YouTube video. Two of them were lucky enough to come to the ISS to be tested by the crew.
We pulled out the first one, and we now have a zebra and a red-backed spider up here in their habitats. The spidernauts did a great job through launch and their first days in space. They seem to be adapting (like I know what that feels like for a spider). But their food, fruit flies, seemed to be having a slightly more difficult time. “Flying” by flapping your wings doesn’t quite work up here. They were flapping around and just floating. They were bouncing off the glass, but could cling on to the wood, which makes up the wall of the habitat. Very interesting to watch.
Food
Lastly, space food is space food, but it is good. I must be getting used to it because I didn’t lose any weight these first weeks. I’m also getting used to HOW to eat it again. This isn’t always an easy proposition in space. Yes, stuff sticks together, but it isn’t like you have these things on a plate. You have to meticulously and tenderly put stuff together so it doesn’t fly away.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/080612-Suni-Spidernauts/breakfast1-600.jpg">
On Sunday, I had time to work my magic and imitate a Breakfast Burrito. That, along with some Kona coffee with cream and sugar (in a bag) was quite satisfying!
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/x5dBdc5hpvI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Mon, 06 Aug 2012 07:54:14 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/8/spidernauts/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/8/spidernauts/A Typical Dayhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/I5qHTfndsaU/Another milestone of our Expedition has been completed – the arrival of HTV3 and the undocking and redocking of 47P (Russian Progress vehicle). What you quickly realize here is that the passing of a milestone is quickly followed by the approach of another. Today, Sunday, we will relax and enjoy a day of rest. Tomorrow we will begin preparation for the final departure of Progress 47P, the arrival of Progress 48P, the long task of unloading and then loading HTV3 and the upcoming Russian and US Spacewalks followed by HTV3 departure and then my trip home. As you can see it is a never ending string of diverse activities.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/080112-Acaba-Typical-Day/iss032e009997-600.jpg">
I am commonly asked “What is a typical day like on the ISS? What do you do every day?” These are difficult questions to answer. I can say that there are a few constants in my day. I usually wake up around 6am; clean myself up, have breakfast, lunch and dinner and somewhere in between workout before going to bed around 10pm.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/080112-Acaba-Typical-Day/iss032e009028-600.jpg">
It is what occurs around those activities that makes this job interesting, challenging, stressful and fun. Diversity. If you are someone that likes to know what you are going to be doing every day, this job would drive you crazy. On Saturdays, we get a general idea of what we will be doing during the upcoming week. Here are few of the things I have done in the past 2 weeks since I have written last. Various science experiments, Soyuz seat fit check, 31 Soyuz arrival with the new crew, HTV3 preparation (actually flying the arm to practice grappling the vehicle and lots simulator time), public affairs interviews and recordings, HAM radio contacts, toilet maintenance (I am now very familiar with our system), emergency simulations with the crew and the mission control centers, periodic medical exams (both physical and mental), controlled diets, <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/mathandscience/exploration/Prob_ARED_detail.html">ARED </a>(exercise device) maintenance, urine bag usage (again), blood draws (both as a subject and operator), air quality monitoring, transfer and consolidation of supplies, filter cleaning (which means vacuuming), ultrasounds (again, both as a subject and an operator), and the capture and berthing of HTV3. Our planners and flight control teams have a tough job.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/080112-Acaba-Typical-Day/iss032e009061-600.jpg">
On any given day, you can go from conducting a technical science experiment, to talking to school kids, to vacuuming, to drawing blood from a crew mate. The tasks range from things I would do at home on a Sunday morning (no, not drawing blood) to grappling a visiting vehicle loaded with supplies with a robotic arm. While some are more exciting than others, because of the environment we are working in all require mental focus.
I just received an email from a friend of mine that recently returned from a 10-day canoe trip in Alaska. Everything did not go as planned and there were quite a few unexpected surprises, which make for a great adventure. While he had the best time, when he finally got off the river he was not only physically tired but mentally exhausted. I told him that working on the ISS is kind of like his river trip. You have the best laid out plan but unexpected things happen that get your heart pumping. You adjust and problem-solve and have the best time of your life. After a relaxing Sunday watching the Olympics, we will be ready to start up all over again and see what adventures await us.
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/I5qHTfndsaU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 01 Aug 2012 19:49:16 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/8/a-typical-day/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/8/a-typical-day/Jack of All Tradeshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/kXPwu5gTVrc/We are here! Wow, what a ride here, what a place to end up. I am so lucky and blessed to be doing the things I am doing. I hope, and truly believe, that what we are doing up here in space will eventually help all of humanity through exploration, innovation, education and to kindle the spirit of curiosity we all have to find out/figure out things we don’t know.
Although this is my second time living up in space, it is totally different this time. Not only is the station bigger, and there are more people, the activities are different – science is king, logistics are totally different with visiting vehicles, the core systems of the “laboratory” are built and stable, allowing us to live and work with a little more regularity.
Some things remain the same – cleaning up, cleaning and working on the toilet, planning for trash, taking out the trash, restocking the “shelves”, computer maintenance – but these are things that are common to any business or organization. We are a “jack of all trades”, which is sort of nice. Keeps us busy!
Geography quiz:
Easy! Of course I swam here, surfed here, snorkeled here, tried to spear fish here…
A big ALOHA to Kiha and all our friends there! We were lucky to fly directly overhead and then later off to the side (Earth is turning…).
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/073012-Jack-Of-All-Trades/ESC_large_ISS032_ISS032-E-8931-600.jpg">
Also had a great pass over Europe starting with England, France, Italy, southern Greece, Crete, and Cairo, down the Suez Canal to the Red Sea, Somalia and southward. It’s a clear day today except the sand storm coming off of the African coast. It looked like a bulldozing of sand flowing over the Arabian Sea.
Things we did this week:
It’s Sunday night on the ISS, HTV is coming toward us, we just released 47 Progress –it’s getting to be a traffic jam in space!
Getting ready for this upcoming week. Of course we arrived and that was exciting to see our awesome station from the inside. Aki and I could see it through our window in the Soyuz as we approached. The Soyuz felt small at that time in relation to the ISS…
Tonight we let go of Progress 47, so we had to work late on Friday to get it closed up and ready to leave. It will come back in 2 days…I will write about that in the blog post, but it is a test of a new KURS proximity system.
Joe and Aki did a lot of robotics practice to get ready for HTV, the Japanese cargo vehicle, which will be here on Friday. HTV launched from Tanegashima, an island off of Japan, yesterday – Saturday – and will be here on Friday for us to “catch” with the robotic arm. I am third wheel and have a lot less responsibilities in the actual capture than those two, so I got to do other things this week. We call these “free flyers” and it is a totally new concept for logistics delivery since last time – no more shuttles for logistics so “this is how we do it.”
BASS (<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/BASS.html">Burning and Suppression of Solids</a>)
Burn experiments in the microgravity glove box – checking out how combustion and fire work with different materials in space. Pretty intense photo documentation, which is done in conjunction with the investigator in Cleveland, Ohio.
Reversible Figures (<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/Reversible_Figures.html">Perspective Reversible Figures in Microgravity</a>)
ESA experiment on how one perceives shapes and motions in space while floating. I looked sort of funny with a 3D looking headset on floating in the Columbus module with a mouse…but it is pretty neat. It is like the picture of the pretty lady and the old lady in one – depends how and what your brain picks up on.
Reaction Self Test – done pretty soon after we get here to check our reaction times.
WINSCAT (Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows)
Another reaction type test. But this one is to see differences in motor skills, perception, reaction time in case we bump our heads. Gives us a good idea if we are functioning okay. <em>(Editor's note: WinSCAT is a test of cognitive abilities, routinely performed by astronauts aboard the ISS)</em>
Integrated Cardio Vascular
Intense monitoring of our cardio vascular system with Holter monitor and Cardio Press – you can see it on the CEVIS photo (below). I was wired!!!
General Moving In
We had to find our clothes, get our computers started up with email, etc., and, there is a new toilet! It is similar to the Russian one that is still here, but has that added feature of turning urine into water (urine recycling). It is great! Surely better than the Soyuz toilet in which it is best to moderate your “flow” – suction on that vehicle is a little less than here. It is simply amazing how much fluid you (well, maybe just me) lose right away. We simply don’t need it, so I evacuated my liquids for a couple days. I think I am evened out now. You can also see the fluid shift in people’s faces. We get rounder and rounded for a while until we are all evened out.
The sleep stations are pretty cool too. Four of us sleep in Node 2, all adjacent to each other – remember you can use the floor and the ceiling too. I am on the floor – it is sort of like a coffin. Two sleep in the Russian segment sleep stations.
Exercise:
We are just starting out getting used to everything again. It is amazing how much your muscles change in just a couple days. I knew this so I quickly jumped on the treadmill, T2 a.k.a. COLBERT on the second day I was here. Wow that felt funny, even my feet felt funny.
The lifting machine, ARED, is awesome. I got warmed up on it on the third day and did a full lifting session today. It is just like working out at the gym at home. It is right below the cupola and we have a laptop with music on it nearby. I got up early this morning, cranked the tunes, looked out the window and had a great lift.
CEVIS, (<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/CEVIS.html">Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization System</a>) or the bike, is the same one from when I was here last time. It is an old reliable friend. I got on it yesterday and a little today to go thru the exercise test and see how my leg strength is. Not too bad for an old lady – I made it through the protocols without too much effort.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/073012-Jack-Of-All-Trades/iss032e008595-600.jpg">
Biking is the weakest part of my triathlon, so I think I will work on it when I am here. I was wearing ICV (integrated cardio vascular) equipment that we will download this week for the investigators to look at. I have a Holter monitor on as well as cardio press on my left hand. I think my heart is in pretty good condition – at least that is what one of the Russian managers said during our welcome to the ISS (very interesting comment and I was told about it by a couple different people – I guess I was pretty calm during the launch).
Food:
Space Food is good in space! Eating it on the ground is torture since there are so many good things to eat at home, but here, it is great. I just ate standard menu things. I’ve been hungry and I have been eating like a horse!
Cupola:
The cupola is awesome. I was hanging out in there yesterday evening and I felt like I was in 20,000 Leagues under the Sea with the sea of stars and the glow of the earth below. Remember how Capt. Neemo had great windows in the movie? That is what it felt like. I had been there in the day and I kept looking around at the bottom of the ISS, because it is really cool too, but at night you can’t help but look out! What an awesome set of windows.
Earlier in the week Joe pointed out the Southern Lights. I had seen a lot of “flashes” before going to sleep on the Soyuz and since I have been here. No wonder – there was some solar activity just recently and that made the flashes and the intense Southern lights. Pretty cool to see. To me they seem a little more flowing than last time when I saw Northern Lights. I remember Northern Lights as more active and intense, the Southern Lights seemed to flow.
Working a lot, you forget where you are…Friday was a full day and I sort of didn’t even remember we were in space, just getting stuff done, one thing after another. Having a real weekend has been nice. It reminds me of where I am and what we are doing – not just going to work without a commute. This is real space stuff and it is cool!
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<a href="http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/newui/blog/viewpostlist.jsp?blogname=swilliams"><em>Suni's blog and more also at nasa.gov</em></a><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/kXPwu5gTVrc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Mon, 30 Jul 2012 07:40:30 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/jack-of-all-trades/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/jack-of-all-trades/Guardians of Earthhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/zb3pTmywA4M/Next week, the international forum uniting generations, "The Guardians of Earth," is bringing together high school students ages 14-17 from around the world to share their ideas for protecting Earth with astronauts, cosmonauts, scholars and each other. This is another example of why you don’t have to be in orbit to have the orbital perspective,
Based on the belief that by joining together our international community can make a difference - and that each of us can make a difference - the forum brings tomorrow's leaders together to get to know each others cultures and capabilities. During the August 5th - 8th forum at the Yuri A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, students will share their vision for our shared future, work in small groups, and together come up with guiding principles that set standards for the citizens of Earth collectively and individually.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/072412-Garan-Guardians-of-Earth/329760582-600.jpg">
By interacting with astronauts and cosmonauts, they are further exposed to the unique perspective of those who have seen Earth's fragility from space. Participants will return home with a broader worldview and appreciation for the planet, strengthening their resolve to take action and become true Guardians of our Earth.
I hope all the students have a wonderful time and they come away from the experience with a commitment to work together to improve life on Earth and not accept the status quo on our planet.
<em>Details: August 5-9, 2012, GCTC. For more information or to get involved, please contact <a href="mailto: a.r.titova@mail.ru">Alexandra Titova</a> in Russia or <a href="mailto:amcorley@gmail.com">Anne-Marie Corley</a> in the U.S. </em><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/zb3pTmywA4M" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Sun, 29 Jul 2012 12:03:05 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/guardians-of-earth/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/guardians-of-earth/Do 1 Thing Day - July 20, 2012 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/MbX0GwfCKc4/What are you doing on Friday, July 20, 2012? On behalf of the Fragile Oasis team, I invite you to roll up your sleeves and Do 1 Thing to make life better on this planet we call home.
July 20th is a special day in the history of humankind. We celebrate the day 43 years ago when two of the Apollo XI astronauts landed on Earth’s moon, and left their footprints on its surface. It is also the day we mark the <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2011/7/thats-one-small-step-for-man/">second anniversary of fragileoasis.org</a>, the catalyst for a rapidly growing community of people from all walks of life who are inspired by the orbital perspective of astronauts in space to look for opportunities to better our communities and our world, making life better for all of us.
In that spirit, let us know what you are doing - the down-to-earth kinds of things people do everyday - bagging trash from a park, reading to children at a public library,
helping a neighbor - any individual act when multiplied by others builds the momentum that changes the world bit by bit. <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/nominate">Submit it here </a>as a special project (select "Do 1 Thing" from the project category choices), upload a picture if you like, and <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/badges/community-do/">you'll receive this limited edition Fragile Oasis badge</a> displayed on your profile.
We have one Fragile Oasis, and 7 billion pairs of hands and hearts, including yours. #Do1T!
<a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/projects/nominate/"><img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/071612-Do-One-Thing/one-fragile-oasis-2.png" alt="#Do1T Do One Thing to Make Life Better on our Fragile Oasis"></a><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/MbX0GwfCKc4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Mon, 16 Jul 2012 22:00:48 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/do-one-thing-2/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/do-one-thing-2/Southern Lightshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/4lyEHWtXGPU/Our time of solitude is rapidly coming to an end. Our new crew mates successfully launched very early this morning. With the 2 days they spend in autonomous flight to reach us, they will arrive around 4:00am GMT on July 17. All of the preparations have been made for their arrival. Since it was not too long ago that I arrived, I clearly remember those first few days on the ISS. While the traditional hatch opening and having the opportunity to talk with family and friends that made the trip to Russia are wonderful experiences, I remember being tired and wanting desperately to take a “bath” and put on some regular clean clothes.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/071612-Acaba-Southern-Lights/Pre-Shower.jpg">
<em>Arriving at the International Space Station and wanting desperately to take a “bath” and put on some regular clean clothes</em>
While we do have facilities on the Soyuz and lots of opportunities to take cat naps, it sure was nice to be home on the relatively spacious Space Station. While all of the new crew members have been here before, we will do all we can to make the transition as comfortable as possible. For Gennady, Sergey and I, we will begin another sleep shift tomorrow. We will wake up at our normal time of 6 am and are scheduled to go to sleep at 3:30 pm with a wake up at midnight. The day of docking is a long day for all of the crews and we will be back to a normal schedule on Wednesday. As I mentioned previously, HTV will be arriving 10 days later so we will all hit the road running.
Knowing what is ahead, Gennady, Sergey and I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. While some work had to be done, overall it was an opportunity for us to recharge our personal batteries and just enjoy the time. We were rewarded with the results of the recent solar activity – the southern lights.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/071612-Acaba-Southern-Lights/Aurora.jpg">
I remember seeing the auroras during my Shuttle flight and I thought it was the coolest thing. Then I arrived this time and Don Pettit showed me the auroras and they were much, much better than what I seen previously. I was happy as could be. Then on Saturday, I was working out and in between sets I saw that we were heading south during a night pass. So I decided my workout could be postponed for a few minutes and I turned out all of the lights in Node 3. Within a couple of minutes, I could not believe what I was seeing. It was absolutely incredible.
I enjoyed the show for a few minutes and then felt I had to inform my crew mates so they could also take in the view. Even Gennady, with all of his time on orbit, was amazed. I am no expert with a camera but I tried to capture at least a small reminder of the experience. The pictures were not great, but they would do. So today, at around the same time of day, I thought I would take one more look. Just when you think it can’t get much better, it gets way better. I of course took some obligatory pictures, but then I just sat in the dark, in the peace and quiet of this incredible man made, orbiting laboratory and just looked out the window in awe.
What a truly magnificent planet we live on and solar system we live in. I could not have asked for a better way to mark the middle of my Expedition and to start what will be a challenging and rewarding time on the International Space Station.<div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/4lyEHWtXGPU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Sun, 15 Jul 2012 12:47:12 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/southern-lights/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/southern-lights/Friends Old and Newhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/a3zutZua-i0/It is hard to believe how quickly the time has gone by. My lack of blogging is directly proportional to how busy things have been.
As I write this, I am one of the three people on the ISS and the only American. It is pretty cool.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/071312-Acaba-Friends/600-iss031e150091.jpg">
The other three members of Expedition 31 went home last Sunday morning with an undocking around 4 am. It was sad to see them go. Anytime you experience a unique situation with someone, a certain bond is forged. It was the same with the friends I made as a <a href="http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=about.notable.education.acaba">Peace Corps Volunteer</a> or crew members on my <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts119/main/index.html">Space Shuttle flight (STS-119)</a>. I am sure you have friends like that.
I will forever be grateful to Don, Andre and Oleg for the way we were received when we arrived, their sharing of experience, and for just being good friends. We had a great time working together. I wish them all the best as they get accustomed to life back on Earth. I know they were all anxious to get back to their families.
There is a lot that needs to happen as you prepare to go home. The Soyuz is a small vehicle which would seem to make packing for return simple. However, with its small size comes the challenge of prioritizing items for return and making them all fit. Then crew members need to clean up their home for the past 6 months and consolidate all of the gear (both regular and electronic) they have been using. Don said his goal while cleaning up was that nobody would ever know he was here. Sorry Don, the impact you had on this Laboratory will never be forgotten.
Somewhere in between all the work, you need to spend that quality time looking out the window and just enjoy the moment. No one knows if or when they might return to this unique Outpost.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/071312-Acaba-Friends/600-ESC_large_ISS031_ISS031-E-145864.jpg">
The 4 am undocking meant a sleep shift for the entire crew. It made for a long day for everyone. The departing crew still had another 4 hours until landing and then they start the long ride back to Houston. It is hard to imagine that within approximately 24 hours after undocking from the Space Station, one can be back at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Gennady, Sergey, and I worked until approximately 9 am and then tried to get some rest. We shifted back and were on a normal work cycle starting Tuesday morning.
I have heard many astronauts tell me that some of their favorite time on orbit was when there was a reduced crew size. It is an interesting situation. With only 3 people, we have more responsibilities. I can no longer ask Don or Andre where I might find a certain tool or what is the best way to access a certain piece of equipment. You hope you have learned what you need to get the job done. The great thing is that we have the Mission Control Centers guiding and helping us. Again, the importance of the team concept.
However, there is something peaceful about waking up in the morning to a darkened Space Station and floating out of your crew quarters. At the end of a work day, you can spend time looking at Earth and getting lost in your thoughts. Or you can crank up the tunes and get in a great workout with Earth in the background and not have to worry about disturbing anybody. It is a great time for self reflection. I think I know what they meant about this time.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/071312-Acaba-Friends/600-iss032e006433.jpg">
<em>Checking out the spacesuits for the EVAs!</em>
I will enjoy these days because as busy as we have been up to now, things are going to get exciting soon. In the last half of my mission we will have of course the arrival of our new crew mates (we anxiously await the arrival of <a href="http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/newui/blog/viewpostlist.jsp?blogname=swilliams">Suni</a>, Aki, and Yuri on July 17). With a new crew come new enthusiasm, expertise, and many good memories, an undocking and re-docking then final undocking of a Progress vehicle, the arrival of HTV3, the arrival of another Progress, a Russian Spacewalk, and an American Spacewalk.
I can’t wait!<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=a3zutZua-i0:WPURUjnHyxw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=a3zutZua-i0:WPURUjnHyxw:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=a3zutZua-i0:WPURUjnHyxw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=a3zutZua-i0:WPURUjnHyxw:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=a3zutZua-i0:WPURUjnHyxw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=a3zutZua-i0:WPURUjnHyxw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/a3zutZua-i0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 13 Jul 2012 11:08:28 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/friends-old-and-new/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/friends-old-and-new/Agat is Up. Hair is Down.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/CwcdNRvm-cY/In the meantime, Yuri, Aki and I got our haircuts - a tradition before launch.
<a href="https://twitter.com/Astro_Suni"><img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/071312-Suni-Haircut/anousheh-suni-twitter.jpg"></a>
The <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/multimedia/gallery/jsc2012e096280.html">prime crew</a> is not allowed to go to the Soyuz rollout, but all our family and friends were there on a gorgeous Kazakh morning!!!!
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2306.html"><img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/071312-Suni-Haircut/roll-out.jpg"></a>
<a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/agat-and-the-business-end/">Agat</a> is up, hair is down.
Editor's note: Agat is the Soyuz crew callsign, and the affectionate name Suni gave the capsule that will take her, Yuri Malenchenko and Aki Hoshide to the International Space Station and back home again. <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/agat-and-the-business-end">More here</a><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=CwcdNRvm-cY:fhVCcOkUSfk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=CwcdNRvm-cY:fhVCcOkUSfk:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=CwcdNRvm-cY:fhVCcOkUSfk:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=CwcdNRvm-cY:fhVCcOkUSfk:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=CwcdNRvm-cY:fhVCcOkUSfk:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=CwcdNRvm-cY:fhVCcOkUSfk:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/CwcdNRvm-cY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 13 Jul 2012 07:16:08 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/agat-is-up-hair-is-down/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/agat-is-up-hair-is-down/Agat and the Business Endhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/dfrE0dAfPcY/We got to go into the Soyuz spacecraft one last time to check it out, to see where our stuff is stowed, and to make sure everything is where we want it. “Agat” is beautiful! I refer to her as Agat since that is Yuri Malenchenko's call sign.
If you watch the launch on <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html">NASA TV</a> you will most likely hear his call sign on the radio. <a href="http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/malenchenko.html">Yuri</a> is Agat 1, I am Agat 2 and <a href="http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/hoshide-a.html">Aki</a> (Akihiko Hoshide) is Agat 3. Right now the capsule (and covering) is not mated to the booster and she is standing upright. They will turn her on her side to be moved and mated.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/071212-Suni-Business-End/soyuz-upright.jpg"><br>
<em>Photo credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov</em>
This is “our” booster – the business end! You can see it is on it’s side, and is ready for the capsule. The entire stack will stay on its side and be “rolled out” to the <a href="http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-32/html/201207120019hq.html">launch pad on Thursday</a>!
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/071212-Suni-Business-End/business-end.jpg"><br>
<em>Photo credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov</em>
Editor's note: NASA astronaut <a href="http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/williams-s.html">Sunita Williams</a>, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Aki Hoshide and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in their Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft July 14 and dock to the International Space Station on July 17. They will join Commander Gennady Padalka Sergei Revin and <a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/this-sporting-life/">Joe Acaba</a>, who have been living and working on board the orbiting scientific laboratory since May 17th.<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=dfrE0dAfPcY:dds4P-cvnTg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=dfrE0dAfPcY:dds4P-cvnTg:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=dfrE0dAfPcY:dds4P-cvnTg:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=dfrE0dAfPcY:dds4P-cvnTg:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=dfrE0dAfPcY:dds4P-cvnTg:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=dfrE0dAfPcY:dds4P-cvnTg:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/dfrE0dAfPcY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 12 Jul 2012 00:50:52 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/agat-and-the-business-end/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/agat-and-the-business-end/Fireworks July 5, 1777http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/NQQrOe6h9_I/On Saturday, July 5, 1777, a day after the anniversary of American Independence, the revolutionary John Adams wrote to his daughter from Philadelphia that he “was surprised to find the whole city lighting up their candles at the windows.”
The year before, on July 4, 1776, representatives of the 13 American colonies were in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to declare independence from Great Britain.
Philadelphia is still lighting up the candles as you can see in this photograph taken 236 years later by a human living and working on the International Space at 09:28 GMT February 6, 2012.
<a href="http://www.fragileoasis.net/edavid/july5/ISS030-E-78095.jpg"><img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/edavid/july5/ISS030-E-78095-sm.jpg" border="0"></a>
It includes most of the 13 colonies: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. Image credit: NASA<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=NQQrOe6h9_I:i0kRof-NSsQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=NQQrOe6h9_I:i0kRof-NSsQ:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=NQQrOe6h9_I:i0kRof-NSsQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=NQQrOe6h9_I:i0kRof-NSsQ:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=NQQrOe6h9_I:i0kRof-NSsQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=NQQrOe6h9_I:i0kRof-NSsQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/NQQrOe6h9_I" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 05 Jul 2012 07:17:48 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/fireworks-july-5-1777/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/7/fireworks-july-5-1777/A Poem for Saturday: One Planet is Not Enoughhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/aH0ThOY8GO0/Last Day in Space
by Don Pettit
Tomorrow we light our rocket, we burn our engines and likewise, burn a hole in the sky, And thus fall to Earth.
How does one spend your last day in space?
Looking at Earth, a blue jewel surrounded by inky blackness, Pure Occipital Ecstasy.
Unconstrained by your girth, you fly with vestigial wings. The atmosphere on edge, iridescent blue with no earthly parallel, Electrifying Diaphanous Beauty.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/062912-Don-Poem-Home/iss031e112645-600.jpg">
Guarded by Sirens of Space, singing saccharine songs, beckoning you to crash on the atmos-reef which tears you limb from limb and scorching what remains into cosmic croutons that sprinkle onto the garden salad of Earth.
One last feast out the window, A looking glass of Wonderland.
Offering both a portal to see your world, and a translucent reflection to see yourself.
Contemplation; what is your place in this world below, how do you change it,
how does it change you.
We are wedded to this planet, until mass extinction we do part. Perhaps one planet is not enough.
You study your charts, we prepare our spaceship, and our minds.
We make ready our descent, into these seemingly gentle arms.
The eager anticipation of hugging your wife, your boys with grins followed by pouting faces, both excited to see you but not understanding why you left.
Oh how does one spend your last day in Space. What would you do?
<em>Editor’s Note: Editor's Note: Don Pettit, Oleg Kononenko and André Kuipers begin their journey home to their families from the International Space Station 12:48am EDT Sunday, July 1, 2012, and land in Kazakhstan at 4:14am (2:14 pm Kazakhstan time). <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html">Watch on NASA TV</a>.</em><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/aH0ThOY8GO0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Sat, 30 Jun 2012 08:59:29 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/a-poem-for-saturday-one-planet-is-not-enough/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/a-poem-for-saturday-one-planet-is-not-enough/From the Diary of a Space Zucchini: The Frontierhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/CGyD5keiL9c/Tonight, Gardener and his crew will depart in their seed pod. The replacement crew is ready to carry on in their place. He is wearing his space suit undergarments.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/Gardener's-Spacesuit/don-getting-ready.jpg">
Not too stylish but functional. He gave all of us an extra long smell. His nose twitched with the slightest tickle from the leaf hairs on little Zuc. He said that what will be is for the best. It has been a wonderful journey; one chapter is closing, another is opening. He had tears in his eyes, not just a small drop at the corners but a pool that was making him blink.
He reached up and turned out the light. In the frontier you should not be afraid of the dark.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/Gardener's-Spacesuit/iss030e175498-600.jpg">
<em>Editor's Note: Don Pettit, Oleg Kononenko and André Kuipers begin their journey home to Earth from the International Space Station at 12:48am EDT Sunday, July 1, 2012, and land in Kazakhstan at 4:14am (2:14 pm Kazakhstan time). A check for stow-a-ways begins shortly thereafter. <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html">Watch on NASA TV.</a></em><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=CGyD5keiL9c:5foj9GWu1AI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=CGyD5keiL9c:5foj9GWu1AI:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=CGyD5keiL9c:5foj9GWu1AI:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=CGyD5keiL9c:5foj9GWu1AI:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=CGyD5keiL9c:5foj9GWu1AI:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=CGyD5keiL9c:5foj9GWu1AI:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/CGyD5keiL9c" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Sat, 30 Jun 2012 01:53:05 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/from-the-diary-of-a-space-zucchini-the-frontier/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/from-the-diary-of-a-space-zucchini-the-frontier/From the Diary of a Space Zucchini: Preparing for Departurehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/4-IEdp1cROY/June 29, 2012
The crew is busy with their departure preparations. They are flying back and forth with bags of gear. Gardener tried on a special suit made out of tight fitting fabric.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/Gardener's-Spacesuit/leak-check.jpg">
It keeps his roots and stalks from expanding when he returns to Earth’s gravity. He said things will feel real heavy for awhile.<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=4-IEdp1cROY:bLOo9VN_oeM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=4-IEdp1cROY:bLOo9VN_oeM:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=4-IEdp1cROY:bLOo9VN_oeM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=4-IEdp1cROY:bLOo9VN_oeM:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=4-IEdp1cROY:bLOo9VN_oeM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=4-IEdp1cROY:bLOo9VN_oeM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/4-IEdp1cROY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 29 Jun 2012 13:08:33 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/from-the-diary-of-a-space-zucchini-preparing-for-departure/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/from-the-diary-of-a-space-zucchini-preparing-for-departure/A (New) Moon is Bornhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/YZfapBSfhDY/I saw the waning crescent moon, a small sliver of white rising above the Earth limb. It reminded me of a glowing fingernail clipping. Like a rainbow of only blue, the atmosphere on edge filled the gap between Earth and space—electrifying diaphanous beauty.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/062812-Don-Pettit-Birth-of-Moon/ESC_large_ISS031_ISS031-E-142631-600.jpg">
Venus was there, watching. Aldebaran in Taurus was an orange dot. The ghost of Full Moon Past, the complete lunar disk, was dimly lit by the bluish hue of earthshine. The time was 07:45 GMT on June 18, 2012.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/062812-Don-Pettit-Birth-of-Moon/ESC_large_ISS031_ISS031-E-142794-600.jpg">
One orbit later, at 09:17 GMT, I saw a sliver of a sliver.
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/reports/iss_reports/2012/06182012.html">Work beckoned me for the next three orbits</a> (about four and a half hours) before I could observe another moonrise.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/062812-Don-Pettit-Birth-of-Moon/ESC_large_ISS031_ISS031-E-142948-600.jpg">
At 13:56 GMT, there was only the smallest glint that we even had a Moon.
The next orbit I was waiting at dawn, but saw no moon. Initially I was baffled. Then it occurred to me that I had been witness to the birth of a New Moon.<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=YZfapBSfhDY:qVqTC6lNQvI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=YZfapBSfhDY:qVqTC6lNQvI:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=YZfapBSfhDY:qVqTC6lNQvI:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=YZfapBSfhDY:qVqTC6lNQvI:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=YZfapBSfhDY:qVqTC6lNQvI:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=YZfapBSfhDY:qVqTC6lNQvI:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/YZfapBSfhDY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 28 Jun 2012 05:10:26 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/a-new-moon-is-born/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/a-new-moon-is-born/From the Diary of a Space Zucchini: Gardener's Spacesuithttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/9dCEYbPC4t4/June 17
Excitement is in the air. Gardener said we will soon be returning to Earth. Our part of the mission is nearly complete and the new crew will take over for us. I am a bit worried about Broccoli, Sunflower, and me. If Gardener leaves, who will take care of us? And what about little Zuc? He is now a big sprout and ready to branch out on his own. Gardener talked about pressing us. I am not sure what that means; this does not sound good.
June 21
Gardener and crew wore their spacesuits today. This is something Broccoli, Sunflower, little Zuc and I do not have. They spent time in the part of the spaceship that breaks off and falls back to Earth. It is very cramped inside. It must be their version of a seed pod.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/Gardener's-Spacesuit/crew.jpg">
June 24
Sunflower is going to seed! His blossom is wilted-brown and has a few lopsided packed seeds. This is not quite normal, but then, we are living on the frontier and things are different here. They are not ready now; I wonder if they will be by the time Gardener is with his seed pod?
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/Gardener's-Spacesuit/sunflower-wilt.jpg">
June 26
Gardener has this big book. He called it an atlas, a map of Earth. The map is normally kept by the big window but now it is stuck to the wall right next to Broccoli, Sunflower, little Zuc, and I, Zucchini. He also transplanted us into new bags. This time the bags are very small, just enough to contain our root ball and a splash of water. He told us that he will soon be leaving and that we will return later in the belly of a <a href="http://www.spacex.com/dragon.php">Dragon</a>.<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=9dCEYbPC4t4:4Z8kl0N_nPY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=9dCEYbPC4t4:4Z8kl0N_nPY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=9dCEYbPC4t4:4Z8kl0N_nPY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=9dCEYbPC4t4:4Z8kl0N_nPY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=9dCEYbPC4t4:4Z8kl0N_nPY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=9dCEYbPC4t4:4Z8kl0N_nPY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/9dCEYbPC4t4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 27 Jun 2012 02:22:53 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/from-the-diary-of-a-space-zucchini/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/from-the-diary-of-a-space-zucchini/From the Diary of a Space Zucchini: Baby on Board!http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/xWNXppFvx6M/June 9
Great news! I have a baby brother sprout! Gardener just showed me baby Zuc.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/Baby-On-Board/baby-zuc.jpg">
<em>Yes, there's a baby onboard the International Space Station.</em>
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/Baby-On-Board/baby-zuc-aeroponic-bag.jpg">
<em>He is strong and healthy and ready to move from the sprouter into his own aeroponic bag.</em>
While Broccoli and Sunflower are great companions, there is nothing quite like having a zucchini-to-zucchini conversation.<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=xWNXppFvx6M:ZVQCasrAvFU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=xWNXppFvx6M:ZVQCasrAvFU:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=xWNXppFvx6M:ZVQCasrAvFU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=xWNXppFvx6M:ZVQCasrAvFU:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=xWNXppFvx6M:ZVQCasrAvFU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=xWNXppFvx6M:ZVQCasrAvFU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/xWNXppFvx6M" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 22 Jun 2012 13:45:38 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/from-the-diary-of-a-space-zucchini-baby-on-board/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/from-the-diary-of-a-space-zucchini-baby-on-board/With Warm Regardshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/v8Vn2d-YRHw/If Matisse and Van Gogh worked together to make a crew portrait, this is what it might be like:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragileoasis/sets/72157630198795426"><img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/061912-Pettit-Infrared/crew.jpg"> </a>
<em>l to r: Joe Acaba, Gennady Padalka, Oleg Kononenko, Sergei Revin, André Kuipers (I was running the camera).</em>
The thermal camera I used operates in the far infrared, with wavelengths around 10 microns, which is close to body temperature. I was using it to image the window heater in the Cupola, and played around with it a bit before putting it away.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragileoasis/sets/72157630198795426"><img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/061912-Pettit-Infrared/self-portrait-cupola.jpg"></a>
<em>Note that regular glass is not transparent in thermal infared, so glasses look like mirrors (and so do our windows).</em>
Editor's note: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragileoasis/sets/72157630198795426/">More of Don's thermal camera pictures here</a><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=v8Vn2d-YRHw:fGEri0kM_mg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=v8Vn2d-YRHw:fGEri0kM_mg:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=v8Vn2d-YRHw:fGEri0kM_mg:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=v8Vn2d-YRHw:fGEri0kM_mg:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=v8Vn2d-YRHw:fGEri0kM_mg:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=v8Vn2d-YRHw:fGEri0kM_mg:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/v8Vn2d-YRHw" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Tue, 19 Jun 2012 21:48:46 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/with-warm-regards/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/with-warm-regards/Stray Lighthttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/bdCuttLYSgk/Stray light - those nasty reflections off our Space Station windows - can ruin the aesthetics of nighttime imagery and viewing. Reflected light from our numerous control panels and computer screens is hardly noticeable until you closely inspect your pictures, typically after returning to Earth when there is no possibility for a retake. The reflections are aggravated by the design of our windows: four layers of glass resulting in eight parallel-mirrored surfaces. For photographers, they can create a haunting tunnel of colored blotches that project off to infinity, like being in a house of mirrors.
To eliminate these reflections requires attention to many small details. Any source of low-level light has to be masked. Even when this is done, light coming from the adjacent <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/stationpayloads/tranquility.html">Node 3</a> and <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/node1.html">Node 1 </a>modules is enough to ruin a nighttime sequence of images. Then there’s the toilet, close to our windowed Cupola, which, when occupied, spills sufficient rays to spoil an image. I have found that it is possible to train your crew to use it in the dark.
<img src="http://www.fragileoasis.net/imgs/061812-Don-Pettit-Stray-Light/cupola-931_7859-600.jpg">
<em>As a final measure, I spread a cloth baffle across the base of the Cupola with an <u>opening sufficient only for my head</u>. Like a flattened projection of a turtleneck sweater, this final barrier effectively excludes errant rays. Equipped this way, as soon as your eyes become adjusted for night, both your view and your images will be spectacular.</em><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=bdCuttLYSgk:mM1U1DFTKD4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=bdCuttLYSgk:mM1U1DFTKD4:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=bdCuttLYSgk:mM1U1DFTKD4:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=bdCuttLYSgk:mM1U1DFTKD4:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=bdCuttLYSgk:mM1U1DFTKD4:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=bdCuttLYSgk:mM1U1DFTKD4:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/bdCuttLYSgk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Mon, 18 Jun 2012 08:17:49 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/stray-light/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/stray-light/From the Diary of a Space Zucchini: Happy Sprout Day!http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/v4SOv1Sgr9Q/April 12
We got new aeroponic bags today. They are a new design, much simpler than the old ones. One corner is cut off and then pushed inwards so it points inside the bag. This makes an opening where the water does not crawl out from capillary action. A piece of foam is placed inside to keep the sides from collapsing so the bag remains puffed up. Our root ball is squeezed through the cut corner so our roots hang inside the puffed up part of the bag. Then about 50 milliliters of water with nutrient tea is injected inside through the opening. Our roots hang mostly in the air but can grow into water if desired. We like our new bags.
<a href="http://fragileoasis.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/April-12-new-bag-600.jpg"><img src="http://fragileoasis.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/April-12-new-bag-600.jpg" alt="" title="April-12-new-bag-600" width="600" height="511" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1491" /></a>
April 19
Our algae friends moved with us into our new aeroponic bags so our roots are once again turning green. I sort of like these little fellows; they tickle my roots when they swim around. Our leaves are happy. It will be awhile before I am ready to bloom again.
<a href="http://fragileoasis.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/April-19-new-bag-algae-600.jpg"><img src="http://fragileoasis.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/April-19-new-bag-algae-600.jpg" alt="" title="April-19-new-bag-algae-600" width="600" height="400" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1492" /></a>
April 20
This is so strange. I overheard my crew wishing Gardener a happy sprout day. Why would anyone want to celebrate the day they sprouted?
<a href="http://fragileoasis.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/iss030e267651-600.jpg"><img src="http://fragileoasis.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/iss030e267651-600.jpg" alt="" title="iss030e267651-600" width="600" height="399" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1499" /></a>
<em>To celebrate Gardener's sprout day, Commander Dan Burbank played the guitar and Anton Shkaplerov played the keyboard, while Broc, Sunflower and I (out of frame) played along with this custom. Sprout day?</em>
<a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/?q=zuc"><em>Previously....</em> </a><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=v4SOv1Sgr9Q:LGv9OrYi9lI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=v4SOv1Sgr9Q:LGv9OrYi9lI:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=v4SOv1Sgr9Q:LGv9OrYi9lI:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=v4SOv1Sgr9Q:LGv9OrYi9lI:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=v4SOv1Sgr9Q:LGv9OrYi9lI:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=v4SOv1Sgr9Q:LGv9OrYi9lI:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/v4SOv1Sgr9Q" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 15 Jun 2012 08:53:01 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/from-the-diary-of-a-space-zucchini-happy-sprout-day/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/from-the-diary-of-a-space-zucchini-happy-sprout-day/From the Diary of a Space Zucchini - What Do Dragons Eat?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FragileOasis/~3/7RWGACH4Q24/April 2
Oh no, we have algae root! Our plastic potting bags, being transparent, allow our roots to be soaked in light. That does not particularly bother us, but it allows for some freeloaders to make their home in the dampness of our plastic, aeroponic bags.
<a href="http://fragileoasis.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/April-2-root-algae-600.jpg"><img src="http://fragileoasis.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/April-2-root-algae-600.jpg" alt="" title="April-2-root-algae-600" width="600" height="400" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1478" /></a>
So our planter bags are now turning green with colonies of algae. The gardener inspected a green drop of water under a microscope and saw single-celled, elongated, free-swimming algae with two flagella. They make many tiny bubbles of oxygen that stay suspended in the surrounding water. The extra oxygen makes my roots happy. How these stowaways got here is a mystery. Gardener says they were probably on our seeds. In any case, we now have some new friends. I am not certain if they are plant or animal.
<a href="http://fragileoasis.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/April-2-root-algae-2-600.jpg"><img src="http://fragileoasis.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/April-2-root-algae-2-600.jpg" alt="" title="April-2-root-algae-2-600" width="600" height="400" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1479" /></a>
April 6
I heard a rumor that a <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/cargo/spacex_launch.html">Dragon</a> is coming and the Gardener is going to catch it. He and his crewmates are spending much time preparing for this event. They practice right next to our grow light so we can watch them train. This looks like serious business. I guess when you are dealing with dragons you have to be careful. At first I was worried about having a dragon onboard but then I remembered that they only eat meat.
<a href="http://fragileoasis.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/April-6-Dragon-Catchers-600.jpg"><img src="http://fragileoasis.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/April-6-Dragon-Catchers-600.jpg" alt="" title="April-6-Dragon-Catchers-600" width="600" height="399" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1480" /></a>
April 10
What is Gardener up to? He only gave us a brief glance this morning. Sunflower, Broccoli, and I are getting thirsty. Our aeroponic bags only hold about 50 milliliters of water and they are quickly drying up. He usually adds about 30 each morning. By afternoon our leaves were wilting. They do not droop under the pull of gravity like leaves on Earth plants. They simply float like pieces of green crinkled paper. Perhaps Gardener did not notice. By evening, he was shocked when he saw us. How could we dry out in only one day he said? I could tell he felt really bad. He was busy with the dragon preparations. We got watered and our leaves inflated within minutes.
<a href="http://fragileoasis.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/April-10-sunflower-600.jpg"><img src="http://fragileoasis.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/April-10-sunflower-600.jpg" alt="" title="April-10-sunflower-600" width="600" height="399" class="size-full wp-image-1481" /></a>
<em>Even Sunflower with a scrawny ½ meter long stalk inflated his leaves in short order. It is amazing how quickly our vascular bundles can transport water to where it’s needed. </em>
<a href="http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/?q=zuc"><em>Previously....</em> </a><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=7RWGACH4Q24:scjkK4SLA6A:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=7RWGACH4Q24:scjkK4SLA6A:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=7RWGACH4Q24:scjkK4SLA6A:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=7RWGACH4Q24:scjkK4SLA6A:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?a=7RWGACH4Q24:scjkK4SLA6A:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/FragileOasis?i=7RWGACH4Q24:scjkK4SLA6A:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FragileOasis/~4/7RWGACH4Q24" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 14 Jun 2012 15:48:05 +0000http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/from-the-diary-of-a-space-zucchini-what-do-dragons-eat/http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2012/6/from-the-diary-of-a-space-zucchini-what-do-dragons-eat/